Department for Transport

Dartford-Thurrock Crossing

Sir David Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the average journey time was to cross the Dartford Crossing (a) northbound and (b) southbound at peak times in each of the last 12 months.

Sir David Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many times traffic has been stopped in each of the last 12 months at the Dartford Crossing northbound to allow crossing control vehicles to escort hazardous vehicles through the tunnels.

Trudy Harrison: The table below contains average journeys time to cross the Dartford Crossing at peak times (06:00-10:00 & 16:00 -19:00) northbound and southbound in each of the last 13 months:Avg. Journey time (Seconds)AM Peak (06:00:00 - 09:59:59)PM Peak (16:00:00 - 18:59:59)DateNorthboundSouthboundNorthboundSouthboundJan-21180198175181Feb-21172186174181Mar-21177193186181Apr-21184190231208May-21184191242188Jun-21193193266217Jul-21181190254213Aug-21191190296194Sep-21198206253198Oct-21194198242208Nov-21200203236228Dec-21189192219203Jan-22189209197189 The northbound route is 1.95 miles (2.8km) and the southbound route is 2.4 miles (3.9km). The times shown are representative of the average time it takes to travel the length of this route.The table below contains the number of times traffic has been stopped at the Dartford Crossing in each of the last twelve months due to an escort vehicle:YearMonthTimes Traffic Stopped2021February1777 March1965 April2039 May2051 June1876 July1946 August1888 September1826 October1995 November1974 December19212022January1951

Buses: Hydrogen

John Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what progress has been made on funding orders for hydrogen-fuelled buses.

Trudy Harrison: The Department remains committed to supporting the roll out of zero emission buses (ZEBs) and is providing over £525m funding over this parliament.The Government’s approach to the delivery of the ZEBs will be technology neutral. The £270m Zero Emission Bus Regional Area scheme is due to announce winners from the standard process in Spring 2022, having announced winners from the fast track process in October 2021. Local areas were able to apply for funding for both battery electric buses and hydrogen fuel cell buses depending on which technology is best suited to their local areas.The Government has supported the introduction of hydrogen buses through the previous Low and Ultra Low Emission Bus funding schemes. Through these schemes, Government provided over £4.8m to a joint bid between Birmingham City Council and Transport for London for 40 hydrogen double decker buses. In addition, Government provided over £4.3m to Brighton and Hove Buses for a further 20 hydrogen buses.Funding from other funding schemes, such as the Transforming Cities Fund and City Region Sustainable Transport Settlements, can also be used by local areas to support the introduction of ZEBs. 20 hydrogen buses are being supported in the Liverpool City Region through funding from the Transforming Cities Fund.The Government will also increase the rate at which the Bus Service Operators Grant can be claimed for ZEBs to 22p per km, further incentivising and supporting the uptake of battery electric buses and hydrogen fuel cell buses.

Large Goods Vehicle Drivers: Facilities

Dehenna Davison: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps the Government is taking to ensure that there is an adequate supply of rest areas for HGV drivers.

Trudy Harrison: The Government recognises the need to ensure hauliers have access to appropriate services and facilities.We are aware of the concerns expressed by many HGV drivers about the provision, quality and value of lorry parking in the UK. We have announced £32.5 million in new funding to improve roadside facilities for hauliers and are undertaking a new National Lorry Parking Survey supported by direct industry engagement to help identify where improvements are most needed. We continue to engage with key stakeholders to encourage the development of safe, secure and high-quality lorry parking.The National Planning Policy Framework already sets out that local planning policies and decisions should recognise the importance of providing overnight lorry parking facilities, taking into account any local shortages, to reduce the risk of parking in locations that lack proper facilities or could cause a nuisance.The Government recently published a Written Ministerial Statement to reinforce the importance of providing hauliers with access to parking and services.The Department for Transport continues to work with the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUCH) to highlight the criteria and consideration for lorry parking with Local Authorities.

Shipping: Russia

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many Russian ships dock at UK ports each year to (a) refuel or (b) restock.

Robert Courts: In 2020, there were 400 voyages (an arrival to a port where cargo is unloaded, or a departure from a UK port where cargo has been loaded) where cargo was either loaded or unloaded at a UK port by 81 unique Russian vessels (flagged, owned or managed by Russia/Russian companies as at latest fleet information available).

Railways: Finance

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 23 November 2021 to Question 76803, if his Department will make an assessment of the potential impact of awaiting a RNEP update on (a) industry confidence in a strategic, long-term plan for rail investment, (b) industry investment in acquiring the necessary skills and staff to be able to deliver rail infrastructure projects, (c) the cost to the taxpayer as a result of uncertainty in the supply sector and (d) the completion date.

Wendy Morton: The Department remains committed to publishing the Rail Network Enhancements Pipeline (RNEP) update, which will reflect the significant investment that is taking place across England and Wales. We remain heavily engaged with the rail industry at all levels, and they are well informed of the projects we are taking forward. We regularly discuss strategic planning for the railway (for example, the recently published Integrated Rail Plan for the North and Midlands), and are confident in the capability of the industry to deliver on those plans. The publication of the RNEP will confirm these plans shortly.

Driving Licences: Applications

Virginia Crosbie: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to help ensure that the DVLA has adequate resources to clear the backlog of (a) new and (b) renewed driving licence application; and what recent assessment he has made of DVLA performance in 2021.

Trudy Harrison: The quickest and easiest way to apply for a driving licence is by using the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA)’s online service. There are no delays in successful online applications and customers should receive their licence within a few days.However, many people still choose or have to make a paper application and the DVLA receives around 60,000 items of mail every day. To help reduce waiting times for paper applications, the DVLA has introduced additional online services, recruited more staff, increased overtime working and has secured extra office space in Swansea and Birmingham. These measures are having a positive impact and customers should continue to see an improving picture in terms of waiting times for paper applications. Applications where the driver has a medical condition that must be investigated before a licence can be issued will take longer.The majority of applicants renewing an existing licence will be able to continue driving while their application is being processed, providing the driver can meet specific criteria. More information can be found online here.

Electric Scooters: Hire Services

Gill Furniss: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of to Question 125381, on Electric Scooters: Injuries, with which NHS Trusts he is working to collect evidence on rental e-scooter casualties; and if he will publish all evidence collected, including through STATS19 Data.

Trudy Harrison: The Department directly liaises with the Liverpool NHS Trust on their findings however their research is conducted independently. We have also received findings from the Bristol NHS Trust via the West of England Combined Authority.The latest available information collected on e-scooters through STATS19 has been made publicly available through the e-scooter factsheet. The latest published year covers the year ending June 2021:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/reported-road-casualties-great-britain-e-scooter-factsheet-year-ending-june-2021Additionally, the record level information covering e-scooters, alongside other road user type, is also publicly available through the open dataset: https://data.gov.uk/dataset/cb7ae6f0-4be6-4935-9277-47e5ce24a11f/road-safety-data

Electric Scooters: Road Traffic Offences

Gill Furniss: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 23 February 2022 to Question 125383, on Electric Scooters: Injuries, if he will ensure that the National Police Chiefs Council's publishes its national strategy for tacking the illegal use of e-scooters.

Trudy Harrison: The Government will continue to support the police by ensuring they have the tools needed to enforce road traffic legislation including those relating to electric scooters. However, a decision on the publication of the national strategy for tackling the illegal use of e-scooters lies with the National Police Chiefs' Council and is not a matter for the Department for Transport.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

Housing: Energy

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether his Department is taking steps to legislate for more energy efficient homes.

Greg Hands: The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Offshore Industry: Training

Lloyd Russell-Moyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what estimate he has made of training times required to achieve basic certification to work in the offshore (a) oil and gas and (b) wind sector of the UK Continental Shelf (UKCS).

Lloyd Russell-Moyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to the North Sea Transition Deal, published on 24 March 2021, what progress the Energy Skills Alliance has made in developing training and standards for all offshore energy industries.

Lloyd Russell-Moyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to the North Sea Transition Deal, published on 24 March 2021, when he plans to publish the Integrated People and Skills Plan.

Lloyd Russell-Moyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the membership of the Energy Skills Alliance is.

Greg Hands: The North Sea Transition Deal underpins the Government’s partnership with the offshore oil and gas sector, to achieve a managed energy transition which leaves no-one behind. The sector, through its skills body OPITO, is developing an integrated People and Skills Plan to support mutual recognition of workforce skills and competencies across energy sectors, which is due to be published in the coming months. The Offshore Wind Sector Deal also includes actions to develop an Offshore Energy Passport to accredit offshore workers and facilitate job-mobility between offshore renewable and extractive industries; the Offshore Wind Industry Council produces a quarterly People and Skills Bulletin to provide an update on activities. Specific training requirements fall within the remit of skills standards and training certifying bodies. The Energy Skills Alliance (ESA) is chaired by OPITO, with information on the ESA and its membership published on the OPITO website.

Energy: Conservation

Virginia Crosbie: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking to help and encourage households to improve energy efficiency.

Greg Hands: The Government has committed to spend more than £6.6 billion in this Parliament to decarbonise heat and buildings, including across all housing tenures. Support is especially targeted at lower-income households through schemes such as the Home Upgrade Grant, Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund and Local Authority Delivery Scheme. In addition to this, the Government has committed to a four-year £4 billion extension to the Energy Company Obligation. This aims to accelerate efforts to improve lower-income homes to meet fuel poverty targets. Meanwhile, the new Boiler Upgrade Scheme will support homeowners with the cost of installing new lower-carbon heating systems, such as heat pumps, in their homes. The Government is also working with lenders to ensure homeowners can access green finance to improve their homes through measures such as insulation and new heating systems. As part of this work, the £1.8million Green Home Finance Innovation Fund will be complete by March 2022.

Warm Home Discount Scheme: Eligibility

Virginia Crosbie: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of including people who claim disability benefit in the eligibility criteria for the Warm Home Discount.

Greg Hands: The Government has consulted on reforming the Warm Home Discount scheme to better target fuel poverty and to provide the rebates automatically to households, as announced in the Energy White Paper. The reforms include focusing support on households in receipt of qualifying means tested benefits and with high energy costs. Disability benefits like the Disability Living Allowance and Personal Independence Payment are not means tested. The incomes of Disability Living Allowance and Personal Independence Payment recipients therefore tend to be higher than the incomes of the intended beneficiaries of the reformed Warm Home Discount. The Government’s analysis shows that around 62% of these recipients are also in receipt of a qualifying means-tested benefits and so would be considered low income under the new criteria. Introducing disability or other non-means-tested benefits would mean that households on lower incomes and in deeper fuel poverty would lose out.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy: Coronavirus

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will take steps to ensure that his Department and its agencies remove all internal covid-19 related policies, restrictions and mask mandates.

George Freeman: On 21 February 2022, the Government published COVID-19 Response: Living with COVID-19. This document sets out how and when the remaining restrictions will be lifted in England. Government guidance was subsequently amended, including the Working Safely guidance and BEIS will continue to follow this guidance and align its policies accordingly.

Energy: Prices

Angela Crawley: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking to mitigate the impact the energy price cap increase on customers.

Greg Hands: The Government is committed to ensuring that support is provided to help consumers deal with the impact of high wholesale energy costs. In response to the recent energy price cap increase, my Rt. Hon. Friend Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer has announced a package of support to help households with rising energy bills, worth £9.1 billion in 2022-23. This includes a £200 rebate for households delivered via their energy bill this autumn, a £150 non-repayable reduction in Council Tax bills for all households in Bands A-D in England and £144 million of discretionary funding for Local Authorities to support households who need support but are not eligible for the Council Tax reduction. In Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, delivery of the council tax rebate will depend on how the Devolved Administrations choose to structure their support; they have flexibility to determine how they use their Barnett funding. In addition to these measures, the Government will continue to provide support to vulnerable consumers through the Warm Home Discount Scheme, which this winter is providing over 2 million households a £140 rebate off their energy bill each winter. The Government has announced that the rebate will be increasing to £150 and will help an extra 780,000 households next winter. Further, Winter Fuel Payments and Cold Weather Payments help ensure the most vulnerable are better able to heat their homes over the colder months.

Electricity: Prices

Thangam Debbonaire: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of establishing a long-term zero carbon electricity contracts market, as recommended in the UCL policy briefing entitled Delivering competitive industrial electricity prices in an era of transition, published on 9 September 2021.

Greg Hands: The Government has made great strides in decarbonising power supply. However the Government is also aware that reaching Carbon Budget 6 and the 2050 Net Zero target may require additional policy changes to ensure the right market mechanisms are in place. The Government is considering how policies should evolve and will continue to be guided by its commitment to meeting carbon budgets, maintaining energy security, and ensuring value for money for all electricity users.

Heating: Health

Marco Longhi: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what definition his Department uses for health and wellbeing in his Heat and Buildings Strategy.

Greg Hands: In the Heat and Buildings Strategy, the Government noted that improving the energy performance of buildings and installing low carbon heating can deliver health and wellbeing benefits, especially for those living in fuel poverty. Energy efficiency improvements help citizens avoid physical illnesses and can improve wellbeing due to cost reductions. The Strategy does not seek to define Health and Wellbeing, however this assessment is consistent with all major definitions, including those provided by the WHO, the NHS and DHSC.

Heating: Health

Marco Longhi: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how his Department defines health and wellbeing as it applies to the Government’s Heat and Buildings Strategy; and whether that definition correlates with that of the World Health Organisation.

Greg Hands: The Heat and Buildings Strategy, released last year, did not formally define health and wellbeing, however it note that improving the energy performance of buildings and installing low carbon heating can deliver benefits in both areas, especially for those living in fuel poverty. For health, it stated this can include this avoiding physical illnesses, such as heart and lung conditions and experiencing cold-related sickness. For wellbeing, making energy efficiency improvements can improve mental wellbeing, as it reduces energy costs, as well as increasing productivity by making homes warmer and more comfortable. The World Health Organisation’s (WHO) definition of health is ‘a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.’ (WHO, 1948). The use of the term ‘health and wellbeing’ in the Heat and Buildings Strategy is consistent with this definition.

Heating: Health

Marco Longhi: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether his Department has provided guidance to health and wellbeing boards on how health and wellbeing is to be applied within the context of the Government's heat and buildings strategy.

Greg Hands: The Department does not provide guidance to health and wellbeing boards on how health and wellbeing is applied within the context of The Heat and Buildings Strategy.The Government is committed to engaging with a range of stakeholders and the wider public to delivers on the Strategy’s ambitions, including health bodies, where appropriate.

Energy: Prices

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies on provision of financial support for energy costs of polling commissioned by Citizens Advice in January 2022 that found potentially 8.5 million people would not be able to cover the anticipated average price cap rise of £60 per month.

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies on provision of financial assistance for energy costs of polling commissioned by Citizens Advice in January 2022 that found potentially 27 per cent of disabled people and 36 per cent of people on Universal Credit would not be able to cover the anticipated average price cap rise of £60 per month.

Greg Hands: The published fuel poverty projections for 2022, show that while most households will need to pay more for their energy bills from April, the financial support offered combined with action on energy efficiency will keep the number of households in fuel poverty on a declining trend. https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/fuel-poverty-statistics. The Government is providing a package of support worth £9.1 billion in 2022-23 which includes a £150 Council Tax rebate for bands A-D, £144 million discretionary funding for local authorities and a £200 energy bill reduction which will help over 28 million households. This is in addition to the support the Government will continue to provide through the Warm Home Discount Scheme, which this winter is providing over 2 million households a £140 rebate off their energy bill. The Government has announced that it would be increasing to £150 and help an extra 780,000 households next winter. Further, Winter Fuel Payments and Cold Weather Payments help ensure the most vulnerable are better able to heat their homes over the colder months.

Energy: Prices

Angela Crawley: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what discussions his Department has had with Ofgem on the rise in the energy price cap.

Greg Hands: Decisions on the level of the price cap are for Ofgem. The government is in regular contact with Ofgem and industry to discuss the impact of unprecedented global gas prices and will continue to monitor the situation closely to ensure consumers are protected.

Vaccination: Manufacturing Industries

John Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to help strengthen and secure vaccine production in the UK.

George Freeman: The Vaccine Taskforce (VTF) continues to work to strengthen UK resilience for the COVID-19 response and potential future health emergencies. The VTF has invested over £380 million to secure and scale up the UK’s vaccine manufacturing capabilities to respond to the pandemic and is actively engaging with market participants to seek to further strengthen our domestic capabilities and capacity in vaccines. In the Autumn Budget, my Rt. Hon. Friend Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer announced a further £354 million for UK life sciences manufacturing. This includes funding to increase the UK’s health emergency responsiveness and capability in vaccine production. Areas of focus will include mRNA capability following the success of mRNA COVID-19 vaccines, and investments which will strengthen the resilience of the UK’s vaccine supply chains.

Bereavement Leave

Nadia Whittome: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking to help ensure that workplaces provide statutory bereavement leave to both parents after baby loss.

Paul Scully: The Government recognises that losing a child or a much-wanted baby at any stage is deeply upsetting and we expect employers to respond with compassion and understanding. Parental Bereavement Leave and Pay provides parents with a statutory right to two weeks off work following the death of their child or the loss of a baby stillborn after 24 weeks of pregnancy. The policy establishes a statutory baseline for employers, and it is the Government’s hope that employers will go beyond this minimum in supporting employees who suffer this kind of loss. The Government also commissioned guidance from the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (Acas) on managing a bereavement in the workplace. This guidance has been updated to include new sections on supporting employees after the loss of a baby and to highlight employers’ good practice.

Scottish Limited Partnerships: Ownership

Alison Thewliss: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many Scottish Limited Partnerships have been fined for failing to register a Person of Significant Control in each year since the requirement to register came into force; and what the value of those fines was.

Paul Scully: One fine has been levied against a Scottish Limited Partnership for failing to register people with significant control since the register came into force. That fine was levied in the 2021/2022 Financial Year. A fine of £210 was imposed by the court.

Scottish Limited Partnerships: Ownership

Alison Thewliss: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many Scottish Limited Partnerships failed to register a Person of Significant Control in each year since the requirement to register came into force.

Paul Scully: Companies House considers 8,126 of the Scottish Limited Partnerships (‘SLPs’) on the register to be active as at 31st January 2022. Of these, 203 had no PSC information. This compares to 213 SLPs in October 2021, 828 in January 2021, 948 in January 2020, 2,019 in January 2019 and 7,078 in January 2018 who had failed to register PSC information.

Horizon Europe

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps are being taken to prevent a loss of scientific skills and expertise in the event that the UK fails to secure association to Horizon.

George Freeman: The UK stands ready to formalise our association to EU programmes, but disappointingly there have been persistent delays from the EU. We cannot wait forever for association to be finalised, and so we are preparing for all scenarios going forward. We will support the UK R&D sector through this uncertain period, either by association to Horizon or through the implementation of an alternative UK programme, if this proves necessary.We are currently developing a bold and ambitious long-term UK offer that combines the benefits of Horizon association whilst also strengthening the UK’s global position and enhancing our unique selling points as a global science superpower. It will build on the Integrated Review and R&D Roadmap and include a strong and attractive offer to encourage talented individuals to build their careers here, developing the skills and workforce the UK needs as well as investing in those areas of research and innovation which support tomorrow's economy, including technologies and missions as set out in the Innovation Strategy.

Renewable Energy: Research

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how much funding his Department has allocated to to research on alternative energy resources for (a) 2020-21 and (b) 2021-22.

George Freeman: The Department primarily funds research into energy generation through UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), which in 2020-2021 funded £205 million towards alternative energy resources. The figures for 2021-22 will be available in the autumn.

Research: Investment

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will (a) review all Belarusian and Russian beneficiaries of UK R&D spending and (b) assess how much R&D investment in the UK comes from Russia or Belarus.

George Freeman: As I noted on 27 February, BEIS is rapidly reviewing all Russian beneficiaries of UK science, research, technology and innovation funding. This is a fast moving policy area and the Government will provide an update in due course.

Geothermal Power: Heating

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking to support the development of geothermal energy as part of sustainable energy solutions for heating buildings and homes.

Greg Hands: The recently published Heat and Buildings Strategy acknowledges the potential of geothermal energy and sets out the Government’s commitment to continue to monitor developments in geothermal heat in the UK and assess whether the technology provides a cost-effective option for the future. Officials are therefore currently reaching out to industry involved in the deep geothermal sector to improve the Government’s understanding of the barriers for investment and the potential of a geothermal heat pipeline. The Government will use this information to identify the next steps that can be taken both by government and industry to realise the potential of the sector for decarbonising heat.

Cash Dispensing: Post Offices

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will hold discussions with relevant stakeholders on the reasons for the removal of the ATM from North Harrow Post Office; and if he will make a statement.

Paul Scully: The management of the Post Office network, including the provision for ATMs, is an operational responsibility for Post Office Ltd. It would therefore not be appropriate for Government to comment on ATM provision at individual branches. ATMs that have been removed from the Post Office network are owned and operated by the Bank of Ireland. Post Office agreed to take over and operate 1,411 ATMs from the Bank of Ireland and are currently in the process of migrating the Bank of Ireland ATMs onto the Post Office network.

Cash Dispensing: Post Offices

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will require that the chief executive of the Post Office publishes the full list of ATMs being removed from (a) inside and (b) outside community post offices in (i) March and (ii) April 2022; and if he will make a statement.

Paul Scully: The decision whether to publish information on the removal of Post Office ATMs is an operational matter for the Post Office. ATMs that have been removed from the Post Office network are owned and operated by the Bank of Ireland. The Post Office has informed us that the Bank of Ireland ATM contract expires on 31st March 2022 and there are only 48 more ATMs to be removed in their programme between now and the end of March. Post Office agreed to take over and operate 1,411 ATMs from the Bank of Ireland and are currently in the process of migrating the Bank of Ireland ATMs onto the Post Office network.

Equal Pay: Ethnic Groups

Sir Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if his Department will make an assessment of the potential impact of the covid-19 outbreak on the pay gap for ethnic minority groups.

Paul Scully: The economic impacts of Covid-19 are still playing out and it is difficult to draw firm conclusions as to whether any groups have been disproportionately impacted. The ONS publish official data on ethnicity pay and the first set of data covering the pandemic will be published in due course. Data for 2019 is available here:https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours/articles/ethnicitypaygapsingreatbritain/2019.

Coronavirus: Vaccination

Adam Afriyie: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department has taken to ensure that the UK maintains the infrastructure needed to (a) develop second-generation covid-19 vaccines and (b) build its pandemic-readiness resilience.

George Freeman: In order to strengthen UK domestic vaccine capacity, as part of our response to COVID-19 and indeed potential future health emergencies, the Vaccine Task Force (VTF) is actively working with industry to explore opportunities to build upon the £380 million the Government has already invested in UK vaccine manufacturing infrastructure and skills. In the Autumn Budget, my Rt. Hon. Friend Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer announced a further £354 million for UK life sciences manufacturing. This includes specific funding to increase the UK’s responsiveness and ability to manufacture vaccines, in particular mRNA capability following the success of mRNA COVID-19 vaccines. Funding has also been provided for the VTF to strengthen the resilience of the UK’s vaccine supply chains.

Coronavirus: Vaccination

Wendy Chamberlain: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how much his Department has paid on average for each vaccine dose purchased from (a) AstraZeneca, (b) Moderna and (c) Pfizer BioNTech.

George Freeman: We are not able to disclose specific costs of individual vaccines procured to date, as details of contracts between the Government and vaccine manufacturers are commercially sensitive.

Foreign Companies: Property

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether he has plans to introduce a publicly available register for residential property that has foreign ownership.

Paul Scully: As announced by the Secretary of State on 28 February, a Register of Overseas Entities will be legislated for within the Economic Crime (Transparency and Enforcement) Bill, introduced to Parliament on 1 March.

Cabinet Office

Cabinet Office: Newspaper Press

Brendan O'Hara: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the oral contribution of the Minister for Brexit Opportunities and Government Efficiency, if he will publish the 1,800 recommendations received in response to his recent article in The Sun newspaper relating to opportunities arising from the UK's departure from the EU.

Mr Jacob Rees-Mogg: I have taken great personal interest in the recommendations received so far in response to The Sun newspaper article. My officials in the Brexit Opportunities Unit will work with government departments to consider recommendations. We will announce any and all future regulatory reforms in the normal way. As per the department’s privacy notice, the Cabinet Office does not routinely publish correspondence received from members of the public and does not intend to make an exception for these recommendations.

Government Departments: Paper

Martyn Day: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps his Department is taking to reduce paper usage in Government departments in light of the climate emergency.

Mr Jacob Rees-Mogg: The Government is proud to lead the world in ending our own contribution to climate change and we have achieved a lot on our road to net zero already.Under the new Greening Government Commitments Framework for the 2021-25 period, the government committed to reducing paper use by at least 50% against the 2017-18 financial year baseline. The first Annual Report against the new Framework, covering the 2021-22 financial year, is due to be published later this year.The Central Digital and Data Office (CDDO) and Government Digital Service (GDS) in the Cabinet Office lead a ‘digital by default’ approach to government services. As a result, thousands of government services are now mostly used online and most service users are no longer using a paper-version of a service.Last year, CDDO added a new mandatory standard to the existing Technology Code of Practice on ‘Make your technology sustainable’, which implements the published Greening Government ICT and Digital Services Strategy (2020).

Small Businesses: Contracts

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of SMEs accessing Public Sector contracts via the digital platform of Bloom Services; and if he will make an assessment of the compatibility of those services with those provided by Crown Commercial Services.

Mr Jacob Rees-Mogg: The Government wants suppliers of all sizes, including SMEs, to be able to compete for and win government business and we have reduced many of the barriers and bureaucracy in public sector procurement. We have made no assessment of Bloom Services. However, suppliers are free to use whichever service is most appropriate for them in order to access public contracts. Contracts Finder covers current and future public sector contracts above £10,000 in central government and £25,000 in the wider public sector. It also includes information on contracts awarded, and whether the contract has been won by small or medium sized businesses or voluntary bodies. It is free to use, and accessible from smartphones and tablets. It is the responsibility of all departments to publish accurate contract notices and award notices on Contracts Finder.

Cabinet Office: Correspondence

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 28 February 2022 to Question 128229, how many outstanding (a) emails and (b) letters he has from the public as at 28 February 2022.

Michael Ellis: The Government attaches great importance to the effective and timely handling of correspondence from members of the public. The Cabinet Office aims to respond to all correspondence within 20 working days. As of 28 February 2022, the Cabinet Office had 1719 outstanding emails or letters from members of the public. 94% of these were received in the 20 working days prior to 28 February 2022 and were therefore within the departmental target.

Infected Blood Compensation Framework Study

David Mundell: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will confirm that (a) Sir Robert Francis' Infected Blood Compensation Framework Study will be published soon after he has received it and (b) it will be given to the Infected Blood Inquiry soon after he has received it.

Jessica Morden: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 24 February 2022 to Question 125060 on Infected Blood Compensation Framework Study, when the Government plans to publish the infected blood compensation framework report by Sir Robert Francis QC.

Martyn Day: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 25 February 2022 to Question 125579 on Infected Blood Compensation Framework Study, if the Government will expedite any recommendation that is made on interim payments to mitigate further hardship to the victims.

Michael Ellis: I refer the hon Member to the answer I gave on 24 February to PQ 125060.

Veterans: Mental Health

Damien Moore: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether his Department has held recent discussions with the Royal British Legion on support for veterans' mental health.

Leo Docherty: The Government regularly engages service charities, including the Royal British Legion, who make an enormous contribution to veterans and their families. We are firmly committed to continuing to work with the charity sector through forums including the Covenant Reference Group and the Service Charities Partnership Board to better understand veterans' needs, as well as deliver high-quality mental health support to former service personnel. We welcomed the opportunity to work closely with the Royal British Legion and other service charities last year to ensure support was in place for members of the Armed Forces community who had been impacted by the Afghanistan conflict and subsequent withdrawal.

Development Aid: Disclosure of Information

Chris Law: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the Open Government Partnership National Action Plan 2021-23 commitment to explore in greater detail developing a commitment to Aid Transparency, what steps the Government is taking to consult with stakeholders during that process.

Chris Law: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the Open Government Partnership National Action Plan 2021-23 commitment to explore in greater detail developing a commitment to Aid Transparency, what plans the Government has to publish a timeline for that process.

Mrs Heather Wheeler: As a part of UK membership to the Open Government Partnership, government and civil society work together to develop a National Action Plan every two years. Due to COVID-19 related resource constraints, not all commitment areas identified through the co-creation process could be developed in full, including Aid Transparency. However, as set out in the plan, we will look to explore this theme further as engagement continues into 2022.If all parties agree to explore this topic following discussion at an upcoming multi-stakeholder forum, a discrete working group will be convened to develop a commitment. A timeline will then be published.

Department of Health and Social Care

Antenatal Care

Nadia Whittome: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to help ensure the provision of consistent and sensitive antenatal care after baby loss for parents across the UK.

Maria Caulfield: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Cancer: Health Services

Navendu Mishra: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the number of patients not being seen within the operational standards of the Cancer Pathway in (a) England, (b) the Northwest and (c) Stockport as at 28 February 2022.

Maria Caulfield: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Lung Diseases: North of England

Alex Norris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent steps his Department has taken to level up inequalities in respiratory health across the north of England.

Maria Caulfield: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Lung Diseases: Research

Alex Norris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will meet with representatives from Asthma UK and the British Lung Foundation Partnership to discuss their plans to deliver investment in respiratory research and development in the UK.

Gillian Keegan: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Coronavirus: Greater London

Dawn Butler: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people have received the covid-19 vaccinations at walk-in and pop up clinics in London; and how many and what proportion of those people (i) did not have a NHS number and (ii) were not registered with a GP.

Maggie Throup: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

General Practitioners: Harassment

Dawn Butler: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the impact of the covid-19 outbreak on levels of abuse experienced by GP staff in (a) Brent, (b) London and (c) England.

Maria Caulfield: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

General Practitioners: Mental Health

Dawn Butler: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the impact of the covid-19 outbreak on GP staff mental health in (a) Brent, (b) London and (c) England.

Gillian Keegan: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Coronavirus: Preventive Medicine

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of prophylactic use of antivirals for the immunocompromised in tackling covid-19.

Maggie Throup: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Telemedicine

Olivia Blake: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made an assessment of the impact of suspending the telemedicine service on vulnerable women, including those with abusive partners.

Maggie Throup: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Immunosuppression: Coronavirus

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how an immunocompromised person who tests positive for covid-19 can access one of the covid-19 treatments.

Maggie Throup: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Nutrition

Alex Norris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make it his policy to ensure that Government support for healthy eating focuses on a balanced diet rather than reduction of negative nutrients.

Maggie Throup: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Members: Correspondence

Dr Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when a reply will be given to the right Hon. member for New Forest East to his letter of 6 December 2021 about a constituent who is unable to wear masks and has been required to work from home by Solent NHS Trust, despite being triple-vaccinated for covid-19 and working in a non-customer facing role at a desk two metres apart from any other in their normal workplace.

Edward Argar: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Abortion

Olivia Blake: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the evidential basis is for suspending early medical abortion at home services in the context of evidence from clinical bodies and peer review studies which have found that service to be safe and effective.

Maggie Throup: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Alcoholic Drinks: Young People

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the use of alcohol by young people in public places; and if he will ensure that his Department's policies treat that matter as both a safeguarding issue and a public health issue.

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to support Community Alcohol Partnerships to reduce alcohol consumption in young people.

Gillian Keegan: No specific assessment has been made. The police, Trading Standards and licensing authorities have powers to take action locally for the offence of persistently selling alcohol to a person under 18 years old. The Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 provides the police, local authorities and other agencies with a range of powers to respond to anti-social behaviour. These include Public Spaces Protection Orders which councils can issue to address anti-social behaviour in a public space.The Department engages with a range of public health stakeholders, including Community Alcohol Partnerships, to reduce alcohol consumption in young people. Local authorities are responsible for commissioning services to prevent, mitigate and treat alcohol-related health harm, delivered through the Public Health Grant. This includes alcohol services for children and young people.

NHS: Dental Services

Feryal Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he expects the negotiations on the new NHS dental contract to conclude.

Feryal Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he expects to roll out a reformed NHS dental contract.

Maria Caulfield: We are currently negotiating with the British Dental Association on initial proposed changes to the National Health Service contract for dental services. We expect to announce the outcome of these negotiations shortly and will set out an implementation timetable when this concludes. The development of further long term proposed changes will be progressed over the summer and autumn of 2022.

Eating Disorders: Mental Health Services

Stuart Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to raise awareness of eating disorder services in the (a) West Midlands and (b) UK.

Gillian Keegan: The four clinical commissioning groups in the West Midlands are promoting eating disorder services via campaigns and communication strategies tailored to the local populations.The Department is also supporting Eating Disorder Awareness Week. Eating disorder services in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are a devolved matter.

Dental Services

Damien Moore: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the availability of routine check-up appointments for NHS dental patients in (a) Southport, and (b) the north-west.

Damien Moore: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the availability of NHS patient spaces at dental practices in (a) Southport, and (b) the North-West.

Maria Caulfield: National Health Service dental provision has been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has reduced the number of available appointments in practices, including in Southport and the North West, due to necessary infection prevention and control procedures. NHS dentists have been asked to prioritise available capacity for urgent care, care for vulnerable groups and children, followed by delayed planned care.We continue to monitor the delivery of NHS dentistry. Data for February 2022 indicates that an increasing number of courses of treatment are being delivered, including band 1 treatment and checks ups, in the North West and in the Cheshire and Merseyside Sustainability and Transformation Partnership area.We have made £50 million available for NHS dentistry in 2021/22 to allow more patients to obtain an NHS dental appointment. Of this, £7,310,000 has initially been made available for the North East and Yorkshire. We are currently developing proposals for dental system reform to improve access for patients.

Alcoholic Drinks: Labelling

Peter Dowd: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of bringing forward legislative proposals to require health warnings on alcohol product labels.

Gillian Keegan: The Government committed to consult on whether mandatory calorie labelling should be introduced on all prepacked alcohol, as well as alcoholic drinks sold in the out of home sector, for alcohol products over 1.2% ABV. We will also seek views on whether the provision of the United Kingdom Chief Medical Officers’ low risk drinking guidelines and a drink driving warning should be mandatory or continue on a voluntary basis.

Alcoholic Drinks: Misuse

Peter Dowd: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans his Department has to take steps to reduce alcohol harm among deprived groups.

Gillian Keegan: We have invested £27 million to establish specialist Alcohol Care Teams in the 25% hospitals with the highest rates of alcohol dependence-related admissions, alcohol-mortality, and deprivation. This is estimated to prevent 50,000 admissions over five years.Local authorities are responsible for commissioning services to prevent, mitigate and treat alcohol-related health harm, based upon on local need. We are investing £533 million over three years to support local authority commissioned substance misuse treatment services in England. This funding will be targeted to areas of highest need first. This is in addition to local authorities’ expenditure annually on substance misuse services from the Public Health Grant.

Eating Disorders: Children

Daisy Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to enhance the funding and resources for children’s eating disorder services.

Gillian Keegan: We have invested an additional £79 million in 2021/22 to expand children’s mental health services, allowing 2,000 more children and young people to access eating disorder services. NHS England and NHS Improvement also announced a further £40 million in 2021/22 to address the impact of COVID-19 on children and young people’s mental health, including eating disorders. Of this, £10 million capital funding is providing additional beds at units for young people with the most complex needs, including eating disorders, with £1.5 million to ensure facilities for children under 13 years old.This additional investment supplements existing plans to expand and improve mental health services, including eating disorder services, set out in the NHS Mental Health Implementation Plan 2019/20 - 2023/24.

Social Services: Reform

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will publish the Government's timeline for the delivery of reforms to adult social care.

Gillian Keegan: From October 2023, we will introduce a cap on personal care costs and more generous means test limits in England. Operational guidance to set out delivery requirements will be published for consultation in due course.‘People at the Heart of Care’, published in December 2021, details the range of measures which will be implemented over the next three years. The Department is working with stakeholders from across the sector, including local government and those with lived experience, to design the implementation and delivery of these proposals, including timelines.

Doctors' List of Patients

Dawn Butler: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the potential merits of reviewing how to determine a GPs patient list size as safe when assessing and developing general practice policy.

Maria Caulfield: No recent assessment has been made. Clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) monitor general practitioner practices’ compliance with contractual requirements and any risks to patient safety and service provision. If a practice considers that it cannot safely take on any more patients, it may close its patient list, provided this is approved by the CCG.NHS England and NHS Improvement provide guidance for commissioners and practices on managing patient lists in the ‘Primary Medical Care Policy and Guidance Manual’. The Manual is published annually and an update is currently being prepared for publication.

Yellow Card Scheme

Sir Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 9 February 2022 to Question 92799, what regulatory action the MHRA has taken in response to the side effects detected as a result of the analysis of Yellow Cards; and how that regulatory action has been publicised.

Maria Caulfield: Over 90% of the United Kingdom population aged 12 years old and over have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, with approximately 140,000 doses administered. The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has monitored the safety of the COVID-19 vaccines used in the vaccination programme and reviewed of Yellow Card reports of suspected adverse reactions. The majority of the Yellow Card reports received following COVID-19 vaccination relate to injection-site reactions and generalised symptoms such as ‘flu-like’ illness and headaches. Such symptoms occur shortly after vaccination and are not associated with more serious or lasting illness.Where the MHRA has established a plausible link between a vaccine and a new side effect, warnings have been added to the product information for healthcare professionals and patients and published on the MHRA’s website. Few serious new safety concerns have been identified but on these occasions, the MHRA has issued press statements and letters to healthcare professionals to raise awareness of the symptoms. The MHRA has liaised with relevant health bodies to ensure information is included in materials issued to healthcare professionals and patients.

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Long Covid

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people with long coivd have received a diagnosis of (a) myalgic encephalomyelitis or (b) chronic fatigue syndrome.

Maria Caulfield: The information is not available in the format requested.

Autism: Diagnosis

Matt Vickers: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the average waiting time is for people seeking a diagnosis of autism; and what steps the Government plans to take to (a) reduce that time and (b) ensure that children can access care for autism.

Gillian Keegan: It is not possible at present to calculate an average waiting time for an autism diagnosis. The current autism diagnosis waiting times data collection and reporting by NHS Digital is experimental and focuses on the percentage of people receiving a first appointment for an autism assessment within a given timeframe. The latest data release in December 2021 suggests that in Quarter 1 2021/22, 12% of reported referrals for suspected autism had a first appointment recorded within the recommended 13 weeks.To tackle waiting times for an autism diagnosis, we are investing £13 million in 2021/22. Of this, NHS England and NHS Improvement have provided £7 million to local areas to test and implement timely, quality autism diagnosis and post-diagnosis pathways for children and young people.

Mental Health Services: Children and Young People

Dr Rosena Allin-Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the proportion of children and young people referred to NHS mental health services who (a) receive no contact from services and (b) have their referrals closed by services without receiving treatment.

Gillian Keegan: Not all children and young people referred to a mental health service will want or benefit from such treatment. Many will have their needs better met through other services such as education, children’s services or self-care. In addition, some referrals with no contacts recorded may be duplicate referrals or relate to other aspects of data quality. During 2020/21, 420,000 children and young people were treated through National Health Service-commissioned community services. This is approximately 39.6% of children and young people with a diagnosable mental health condition, exceeding the target of 35%.By 2023/24, an additional 345,000 children and young people aged 0 to 25 years old, will have access to NHS-funded support each year, including from mental health support teams in schools and colleges.

Alcoholic Drinks: Consumption

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of trends in the increase in alcohol consumption in the north of England during the covid-19 outbreak.

Gillian Keegan: The Office for Health Improvement and Disparities found that consumption of alcohol in the North increased for higher risk drinkers during periods of lockdown, as compared with periods of no restrictions in place. The overall percentage of people in the North who reported drinking within the Chief Medical Officer’s guidelines of 14 units per week reduced and the latest data available shows this change has maintained. The latest data as of November 2021 shows that the number of non-drinkers had increased in the North, compared to pre-pandemic levels.

Coronavirus: Screening

Kate Osamor: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take steps to ensure that covid-19 lateral flow tests for people visiting residential care homes remain free after 1 April 2022.

Gillian Keegan: Testing for visitors to care homes should continue in line with the wider care home testing regime. The regular asymptomatic testing regimes from 1 April 2022 are currently under review, including for visitors to care homes. Further detail on future testing in adult social care testing will be provided in due course.

Coronavirus: Screening

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will commit to keeping NHS covid-19 lateral flow tests for people who visit care home residents.

Gillian Keegan: Testing for visitors to care homes should continue in line with the wider care home testing regime. The regular asymptomatic testing regimes from 1 April 2022 are currently under review, including for visitors to care homes. Further detail on future testing in adult social care testing will be provided in due course.

Care Homes: Closures

Colleen Fletcher: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate his Department has made of the number of residential care homes that have closed in (a) Coventry North East constituency, (b) Coventry, (c) the West Midlands and (d) England in each of the last five years.

Gillian Keegan: The following data represents the number of care homes which have been deactivated. These data exclude locations that have a published ‘successor’ organisation, where the service continues under new registration due to a legal entity change or a change in the provider. It may take several months for a ‘successor’ location to be published following a location deactivating and a new location arriving.The following table shows the total number of nursing homes and residential homes which have been deactivated in Coventry North East constituency in each year since 2017.Year of deactivationTotal number of care homes deactivated2017020182201902020120214 The following table shows the total number of nursing homes and residential homes which have been deactivated in the Coventry local authority area in each year since 2017.Year of deactivationTotal number of care homes deactivated2017120183201922020120215 The following table shows the total number of nursing homes and residential homes which have been deactivated in the West Midlands in each year since 2017.Year of deactivationTotal number of care homes deactivated201782201859201953202055202164 The following table shows the total number of nursing homes and residential homes which have been deactivated in England in each year since 2017.Year of deactivationTotal number of care homes deactivated20177262018557201954420204262021486

Social Services: Temporary Employment

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of setting a standard hourly agency rate across social care.

Gillian Keegan: Local authorities are responsible for determining the fee rates paid to providers. The Care Act 2014 states local authorities should have evidence that fee levels are appropriate to provide the agreed quality of care and also enable providers to effectively support care users and invest in staff development, innovation and improvement. We are committing £1.4 billion to support local authorities to move towards paying providers a fair cost of care.As a condition of receiving funding, local authorities will be required to conduct thorough, evidence-based cost of care exercises, set out their plans for driving market sustainability, including progress towards a fair cost of care and report to the Department on how funding is used.

Social Services: Pay

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of increasing social care funding to enable an inflationary wage increase in order to help close the recruitment gap in that sector.

Gillian Keegan: No assessment has been made. The Local Government Finance Settlement makes £54.1 billion available in 2022/23 for local government in England - an increase of up to £3.7 billion on 2021/22 or over 4.5% in real terms. This will ensure local authorities can respond effectively to pressures facing the adult social care sector. The vast majority of care workers are employed by private sector providers who ultimately set their pay, independent of central government. Local authorities work with care providers to determine a fair rate of pay based on local market conditions.

Health Services and Social Services: Technology

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of how the use of technology in the health and social care sectors will improve patient outcomes.

Gillian Keegan: We are aiming for 90% of trusts in England to have Electronic Patient Records by December 2023 and 80% of social care providers to have a Digital Social Care Record by March 2024. Digitally mature providers operate with approximately 10% improved efficiency, enabling clinicians to deliver better and safer care for patients such as remote support and targeted population health interventions.

Social Services: Debt Collection

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the impact of recovery action by local authorities for care charge debts on the well-being of social care users.

Gillian Keegan: No specific assessment has been made. Each local authority is responsible for managing its debt recovery processes underpinned by the principles in the ‘Care and support statutory guidance’. This includes considering how different approaches might impact a person’s wellbeing. Local authorities also have a general duty to promote a person’s wellbeing and as such must consider whether debt has accrued due to factors outside of a person’s control. The statutory guidance offers recommendations of how local authorities should approach these cases.

Social Services: Income Support

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of allocating funding to local authorities to enable uplifts in the discretionary element of the minimum income guarantee for social care users and to enable waivers on care charge debts.

Gillian Keegan: On 28 February 2022, a local authority circular was issued to set out a 3% increase to the Minimum Income Guarantee from April 2022. Funding has been allocated to local authorities to make this uplift.We have no plans to increase the Minimum Income Guarantee above this level in 2022/23 or change existing localised debt recovery processes. However, local authorities maintain the discretion to waive debts and uplift the Minimum Income Guarantee, in line with the ‘Care and support statutory guidance’. As part of the Local Government Finance Settlement, local authorities can use of over £1 billion of additional resource for social care in 2022/23.

Dementia

Feryal Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the changes in the proportion of people with dementia in England who have a recorded dementia diagnosis between (a) March 2020 and July 2021 and (b) July 2021 and December 2021; and if he will make a statement.

Feryal Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to increase the dementia diagnosis rate in England to the Dementia 2020 Challenge's national target rate of 66.7 per cent.

Gillian Keegan: The information is not available in the format requested.With NHS England and NHS Improvement, we continue to monitor monthly trends in the dementia diagnosis rate. Due to the impact of the pandemic, the estimated diagnosis rate fell below the national target for the first time since December 2016. In March 2021, the rate increased to 61.6% and has remained stable.In 2021/22, £17 million was allocated to NHS England and NHS Improvement to address dementia waiting lists and increase the number of diagnoses. This funding was made available to clinical commissioning groups in June 2021. We will set out plans for dementia in England later this year, including a focus on dementia diagnosis.

Social Services: Costs

Kate Osamor: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has plans to introduce a zero cap on care costs for people who turn 18 with eligible care needs.

Gillian Keegan: The cap on care costs places an £86,000 limit on the amount care users will need to spend on their care over their lifetime, excluding daily living costs. This cap will apply to all adults, regardless of their age or when they developed care and support needs.

Avoidant/restrictive Food Intake Disorder: Mental Health Services

Daisy Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans his Department has to establish and fund nationally an Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder pathway.

Gillian Keegan: In 2019/20, NHS England and NHS Improvement funded seven community eating disorder teams for children and young people to pilot a programme to improve access, assessment and treatment for children presenting with Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID). The training from these pilots is now available for providers of children and young people’s community eating disorder services.  In 2021, NHS England and NHS Improvement also commissioned training on ARFID for staff delivering treatment in inpatient children and young people’s mental health services. NHS England and NHS Improvement are currently reviewing provision for children and young people’s with ARFID to inform further activity to support adult patients.

Eating Disorders: Mental Health Services

Daisy Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that people with eating disorders are not turned away from services because of their BMI.

Gillian Keegan: The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s clinical guidance on managing and treating eating disorders and NHS England’s Eating Disorder Commissioning Guide state that people should not be rejected for treatment solely on the grounds of weight or body mass index. We expect commissioners and providers to adhere to this guidance. All decisions about treatment should be taken jointly between the clinician and the patient, based on the best clinical evidence available and national guidance where appropriate.We are working with NHS England and NHS Improvement, Health Education England and other system partners to identify and support eating disorder training opportunities to enable staff to develop their understanding and improve diagnosis of eating disorders.

Mental Health Services: Telephone Services

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a specific three-digit mental health support line from which callers can (a) speak directly to a person who is a trained mental health professional to deal with mental health emergencies or (b) have their call triaged to a mental health professional if required.

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a specific three-digit mental health support line, available 24 hours a day and seven days a week.

Gillian Keegan: We have no plans to make an assessment. However, NHS England and NHS Improvement are developing crisis pathways which will ensure 100% coverage of 24 hours a day, seven days a week age-appropriate crisis-care via NHS 111 by 2023/24. All National Health Service mental health providers have now established 24 hours a day, seven days a week urgent mental health helplines, which have responded to approximately three million calls during the pandemic.

Mental Health Services: South East

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the waiting times for children and adolescent mental health referrals in the South East.

Gillian Keegan: No formal assessment has been made. However, we monitor access to services through the NHS mental health dashboard, which collects data on the number of children and young people under 18 years old accessing support by National Health Service-funded community services. NHS England and NHS Improvement consulted on the potential to introduce five new waiting time standards. We will work with NHS England and NHS Improvement on the next steps for the proposed mental health access and waiting measures.

Alcoholic Drinks: Health Hazards

Martyn Day: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to Sugar Content in Wine Revealed, published by the Alcohol Health Alliance on 16 February 2022, what plans his Department has for improving consumer knowledge on the potential health impacts of alcohol consumption.

Gillian Keegan: We have committed to consult on whether to introduce mandatory calorie labelling on pre-packaged alcohol and alcohol sold in on-trade businesses such as pubs and restaurants in due course. As part of this consultation, we will also seek views on whether the provision of the United Kingdom Chief Medical Officers’ low risk drinking guidelines on pre-packed alcohol labels should be mandatory or continue on a voluntary basis.

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: Employment

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people who have received a diagnosis of (a) myalgic encephalomyelitis and (b) chronic fatigue syndrome are currently in employment.

Gillian Keegan: Recent data from the UK Biobank suggests that there are over 250,000 people in England and Wales with myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS). Information on the number of people in employment with a diagnosis of ME/CFS is not held centrally.

Grampian NHS Board

Martyn Day: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department is aware of NHS Grampian’s virtual support service; and whether he has had discussions with the Scottish health minister on that service.

Gillian Keegan: We are not aware of this initiative by NHS Grampian. However, Departmental officials met recently with counterparts in the Scottish Government to share best practice on policies to improve mental health and wellbeing and will meet regularly to develop a new long-term strategy for mental health and wellbeing.

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: Coronavirus

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the long-term impact of covid-19 on individuals with a diagnosis of (a) myalgic encephalomyelitis or (b) chronic fatigue syndrome.

Gillian Keegan: No specific assessment has been made. The National Institute for Health Research has funded studies to improve the understanding of and address the longer-term effects of COVID-19. Currently there are no published findings on the long term impact of COVID-19 in people with a diagnosis of myalgic encephalomyelitis or chronic fatigue syndrome from these studies.

Health Services

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he will take to communicate effectively with the public on how best to make use of NHS services.

Edward Argar: NHS England and NHS Improvement and other health bodies have multiple campaigns to inform the public about NHS services and how to access them. This includes the ‘Help us help you’ campaign which raises awareness of the NHS 111 service, ensuring that people access services for cancer, stroke and heart attacks to help increase earlier diagnosis of critical conditions. This campaign is planned to continue in 2022/23.

Tomography: Waiting Lists

Sir Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans his Department has to address the backlog in (a) CT and (b) MRI appointments.

Edward Argar: The ‘Delivery plan for tackling the COVID-19 backlog of elective care’ sets out how the National Health Service will recover and expand elective services, including reducing the backlog of diagnostic services. By March 2025, 95% of patients needing a diagnostic test should receive it within six weeks.We have allocated more than £8 billion from 2022/23 to 2024/25 to deliver over nine million additional treatments and diagnostic procedures over the next three years. We have also provided £2.3 billion to increase diagnostic activity and reduce patient waiting times through community diagnostic centres (CDCs), with up to 160 CDCs available by March 2025. CDCs will offer imaging services including computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging scans.

NHS: Coronavirus

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an estimate on 3 February 2022 of how many and what proportion of NHS staff have not received their first covid-19 vaccine by that date; and if will place details of that estimate in the Library of the House.

Edward Argar: While specific data for 3 February 2022 is not available, NHS England’s data of 6 February on the vaccination status of National Health Service trust healthcare workers showed that 1,453,433 staff or 95.4% had received a first dose.Following public consultation and consideration of the latest clinical evidence on the Omicron variant, the Government has revoked the regulations requiring COVID-19 vaccination as a condition of deployment in health and care settings.

Health Services: Coronavirus

Sir Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to tackle the impact of staff absences due to the Omicron covid-19 variant on delivering care.

Edward Argar: The National Health Service is providing additional guidance for managers to support staff affected by the impacts of COVID-19, such as signposting to wellbeing resources and mental health hubs. The deployment of a flexible workforce, such as temporary agency or bank staff, allows the NHS to meet fluctuations in demand and staffing levels.

NHS: Long Covid

Sir Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of creating a compensation scheme for NHS frontline workers who have been unable to return to work due to the impact of long covid.

Edward Argar: No assessment has been made. COVID-19 is a new disease and it is not yet clear what the physical, psychological, rehabilitation and support needs will be for those experiencing long-term effects. As more evidence emerges, the Department of Health and Social Care will continue to work with the Department for Work and Pensions to consider the Government’s provisions and approach for those experiencing the long-term effects of the virus.

Accident and Emergency Departments: Standards

Colleen Fletcher: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what proportion of patients attending A&E in (a) Coventry, (b) the West Midlands and (c) England were seen within four hours during each month of 2021.

Edward Argar: The following table shows the proportion of patients attending accident and emergency (A&E) in Coventry and seen within four hours during each month of 2021.January 202178.3%February 202181.3%March 202185.3%April 202186.2%May 202181.1%June 202178.4%July 202174.3%August 202174.6%September 202169.6%October 202169.6%November 202170.5%December 202171.8%Source: This information is taken from; https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/ae-waiting-times-and-activity The following table shows the proportion of patients attending A&E in the West Midlands and seen within four hours during each month of 2021.January 202176.1%February 202182.5%March 202185.1%April 202185.7%May 202183.0%June 202179.6%July 202176.5%August 202175.7%September 202174.4%October 202174.1%November 202174.0%December 202174.2% Source: This information is taken from https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/ae-waiting-times-and-activity/ Note: West Midlands is comprised of Birmingham and Solihull Sustainability and Transformation Partnership (STP), The Black Country and West Birmingham STP and Coventry and Warwickshire STP. The following table shows the proportion of patients attending A&E in England seen within four hours during each month of 2021.January 202178.5%February 202183.9%March 202186.1%April 202185.4%May 202183.7%June 202181.3%July 202177.7%August 202177.0%September 202175.2%October 202173.9%November 202174.0%December 202173.3%Source: This information is taken from: https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/ae-waiting-times-and-activity/

Complementary Medicine: Standards

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what information his Department holds on what professional and ethical standards and requirements apply to practitioners of alternative medicine.

Edward Argar: The National Health Service categorises complementary and alternative medicines as therapies that are typically used with the intention of treating or curing a health condition which fall outside of mainstream healthcare.The Department does not hold information on standards which may be set by professional bodies representing individuals performing alternative and complementary medicine. Anyone seeking alternative or complementary treatments is urged to find a reputable, safe, and qualified practitioner subject to statutory regulation or who is registered on a voluntary register accredited by the Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care.

Cancer: Health Services

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what his Department's timetable is for publishing the 10-Year Cancer Plan for England.

Maria Caulfield: The call for evidence, launched on 4 February 2022, is open for eight weeks. We will consider the responses received during the development of the 10-Year Cancer Plan, which is expected to be published later this year.

Coronavirus: Vaccination

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to review the mandatory covid-19 vaccination programme in the context of NHS and social care staff shortages.

Edward Argar: Following the continued success of the vaccination programme, the Government announced on 31 January 2022 that vaccination will no longer be a condition of deployment for health and social care staff, subject to a public consultation and Parliamentary approval.

Ophthalmic Services

Marsha De Cordova: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if his Department will publish the (a) organisations and people responsible for the (i) oversight and (ii) implementation of the National Outpatient Transformation Programme for ophthalmology and (b) dates and minutes of programme meetings.

Maria Caulfield: The National Outpatient Transformation Programme is overseen and implemented by the NHS Improvement Directorate, led by Hugh McCaughey, the National Director of Improvement. The Programme is based within the NHS Transformation Directorate, led by Tim Ferris, the National Director of Transformation. Ophthalmology formed part of this work from 2020 to March 2021, when a new National Eyecare Improvement Programme took responsibility for ophthalmology outpatient service improvement.The governance framework and the minutes for these meetings, including dates, are attached. The minutes have been redacted to remove personal information.MINUTES  (pdf, 1923.0KB)FRAMEWORK (pdf, 4693.1KB)

Roaccutane: Side Effects

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what data his Department holds on the number of cases that have been recorded where patients have complained of side effects from the use of Roaccutane in each year since 2014.

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to help ensure that medical professionals inform patients of the possible side effects of Roaccutane.

Edward Argar: Roaccutane is a brand name for the medicine isotretinoin which is authorised for the treatment of severe forms of acne. National data on the total number of patients who have experienced side effects after using isotretinoin is not available. The Yellow Card scheme operated by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) collects information on suspected side effects in the United Kingdom. Since 2014, between 87 and 135 reports of side effects suspected to be associated with the use of isotretinoin have been received each year. It is estimated that approximately 35,000 individuals receive isotretinoin each year in the UK. Estimates of the exact number of people treated with isotretinoin is not available as the dose is individualised based on the patient’s weight and their response to the medicine.The product information for all medicines, including isotretinoin, contains advice about possible side effects and how to report them. Healthcare professionals receive the MHRA’s Drug Safety Update which includes information about possible side effects and any action which needs to be taken. Since 2014, the Drug Safety Update has included a number of articles on isotretinoin, including reminders on important risks and precautions. The terms of the ongoing review of the risk of psychiatric and sexual side effects for isotretinoin include consideration of whether regulatory action is needed to ensure awareness of the risks associated with this medicine.

Transplant Surgery: Coronavirus

Dr Philippa Whitford: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the impact of the level of covid-19 hospitalisations on NHS transplant services as of 26 January 2022.

Maria Caulfield: NHS England and Improvement and NHS Blood and Transplant regularly assess the impact of COVID-19 hospitalisations on NHS transplant services and are working with transplant units to restore transplantation services to pre-pandemic levels.Whilst specific data for 26 January 2022 is not available, as of 23 January 2022, deceased donation represents 86% of pre-pandemic levels and living donation has since resumed to delivering quarterly matching runs through the UK Living Kidney Sharing Scheme. NHS Blood and Transplant and NHS England and NHS Improvement continue to work with transplant units to optimise the uptake of every organ that becomes available.

Fertility

Ms Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent discussions his Department has held with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence regarding a review into fertility guidelines.

Maria Caulfield: Departmental officials have met with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) to discuss the review of the guidelines. Officials have also attended workshops with NICE and stakeholders to discuss the scope of the fertility guidelines review.

Cancer: Health Services

Navendu Mishra: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he make an estimate of the number of patients who have opted to pay for medical advice and appointments following the postponement of their appointments on the NHS Cancer Pathway.

Maria Caulfield: We have no plans to do so. There have been over four million urgent referrals and over 960,000 people receiving cancer treatment between March 2020 and November 2021. First and subsequent treatments have been maintained at 94% of usual levels between March 2020 and November 2021.

Ophthalmic Services

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, for what reason it is his Department's policy that a national eye care strategy for England is unnecessary.

Maria Caulfield: Regionally based National Health Service commissioners are responsible for commissioning secondary care ophthalmology services, out of hospital services from primary eye care providers and the NHS sight testing service. These services are put in place to meet local identified needs, which vary across the country. It is therefore important to allow local areas to set their own priorities. However, we would expect commissioners to take into account NHS England and NHS Improvement’s national guidance, such as the priorities and operational planning guidance, which will have implications for the delivery of eye care services.

Advisory Committee On Borderline Substances: Standards

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 26 January 2022 to Question 110446 on Advisory Committee on Borderline Substances: Standards, what extent of response the Advisory Committee on Borderline Substances provides to all types of applications within 28 working days.

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 26 January 2022 to Question 110447 on Advisory Committee on Borderline Substances: Standards, what assessment he has made of the time it takes for the Advisory Committee on Borderline Substances to provide an application outcome to all application types.

Edward Argar: Following a review of an application by the Advisory Committee on Borderline Substances (ACBS), the applicant will be notified of the Committee’s decision. This will set out whether the application has been approved, that further information is required to continue conducting the review or that the product is not supported for listing on Part XV of the Drug Tariff. This includes the reasons for the decision.No recent assessment of the time taken by the ACBS to provide an application outcome to all application types has been made. This assessment could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Health and Social Care Leadership in England Review

Dawn Butler: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what his planned timetable is for the (a) conclusion and (b) sharing of conclusions with hon. Members of the review of leadership in health and social care being led by General Sir Gordon Messenger.

Edward Argar: The Health and Social Care Leadership Review, announced in October 2021, review remains on schedule to conclude in spring 2022 and is expected to be published thereafter.

Coronavirus: Disease Control

John Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will set out the range of assumptions of virus spread and severity of illness used in his covid-19 response planning.

Maggie Throup: The Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) provides advice to the Government on its response to the COVID-19 epidemic. Its operational subgroup, Scientific Pandemic Influenza Group on Modelling (SPI-M-O), modelled potential scenarios for the Omicron variant using a range of assumptions on indicators. These include parameters such as the transmission advantage and intrinsic severity of the Omicron variant over the Delta variant. SPI-M-O modellers use contemporaneous academic studies when setting their assumptions.Such modelling is regularly updated to reflect changes in assumptions as and when more detailed studies are released. Where there is uncertainty in a parameter value, sensitivity analysis is used to explore the range of impact and inform the Government’s response. Given the large number of assumptions made for the parameters that feed into the modelling, the latest underlying assumptions used by SPI-M-O academic groups is available at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/spi-m-o-chairs-statement-on-covid-19-19-december-2021The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) also informs the scientific advice presented to the Government. The UKHSA undertakes studies and risk assessments on selected emergent variants, assessing transmissibility, immune evasion, growth advantage and infections severity based on available data from the UKHSA and academic partners. Variants are selected for assessment on the basis of growth, and the number and type of genetic mutations present. Risk assessments are updated regularly until stable assessments are reached and are available at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/investigation-of-sars-cov-2-variants-of-concern-variant-risk-assessmentsDetailed analyses of the indicators are published in the Technical Briefings, which are available at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/investigation-of-sars-cov-2-variants-technical-briefings

Vaccine Data Resolution Service

Sir Alan Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether there is a way for hon. Members to contact the Vaccine Data Resolution Service.

Maggie Throup: If an hon. Member wishes to support a constituent in their engagement with the Vaccine Data Resolution Service (VDRS), they can contact NHS England and NHS Improvement directly with the constituent’s details and proof of consent to act on their behalf.

Coronavirus: Screening

Neale Hanvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Answer of 15 February 2022 to Question 119864, how many of the 25 per cent of approved devices from UK manufacturers, have a (a) CE marking; and (b) UKCA mark; and how many of those are registered to UK-based companies.

Maggie Throup: A valid CE or UKCA marking is required to attain Coronavirus Test Device Approvals (CTDA) approval. All approved devices from United Kingdom manufacturers have a CE marking. All applications for CTDA approval must be made from a place of business registered in the UK. As of 25 February 2022, 14 out of 31 applications approved were from manufacturers established in the UK. All were made from a place of business registered in the UK.

Healthy Start Scheme

Mrs Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the proposed transition from Healthy Start vouchers to the Healthy Start card in March 2022, what steps his Department is taking to (a) make voucher users aware of the cut-off date and (b) ensure the successful transition of voucher users to the card.

Maggie Throup: Beneficiaries in receipt of Healthy Start paper vouchers were sent two pre-paid card invitation letters or emails between September and November 2021. Beneficiaries also received two leaflets with paper voucher packs, between August 2021 and January 2022, advising them to apply online for their prepaid card to continue to receive Healthy Start.The NHS Business Service Authority has delivered two national communications activities. The first campaign targeted those on the paper voucher scheme to raise awareness of the end of the paper voucher scheme in March 2022 and the need to apply online for a prepaid card. The second awareness campaign began in February 2022 and is promoting the scheme to all those who may be eligible for a prepaid card.

Coronavirus: Vaccination

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what advice he has received from Government health advisers on an individual's likelihood to transmit the Omnicron covid-19 variant up to 10 weeks after they have been vaccinated.

Maggie Throup: The UK Health Security Agency has not advised on the likelihood of transmission of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 after vaccination, as there is currently insufficient data available. With other COVID-19 variants, vaccinated cases have a reduced risk of transmission compared to unvaccinated cases after two doses. Further work is underway to estimate the impact of vaccination on rates of transmission with the Omicron variant.

Healthy Start Scheme

Mrs Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many (a) reports have been submitted by the public on problems with the Healthy Start helpline and (b) how many of those problems have been resolved.

Maggie Throup: The NHS Business Services Authority categorises complaints by service and primary theme. No official complaints were logged with the primary theme of problems with the Healthy Start helpline.

Coronavirus Certificates

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what his Department's policy is on vaccinated individuals who move from Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland to England, but are unable to access an NHS Covid Pass as a result of vaccination data not being aligned between devolved nations and England.

Maggie Throup: If an individual moves from Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland where they were previously registered with a general practitioner (GP) and registers with a new GP in England, this vaccination data may not appear in the NHS COVID Pass. In these circumstances, individuals should book a face to face appointment at a selected list of vaccination centres in England. This service registers vaccines administered in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland and overseas. Following an appointment, the NHS COVID Pass should record these doses within five days.

NHS Covid Pass

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the quantifiable effect of the NHS COVID pass on reducing the transmission of the virus.

Maggie Throup: No specific assessment has been made. However, certification helped to reduce risks in compared with no intervention, as part of a range of measure aimed at reducing pressures on the National Health Service.On 19 January 2022, the Government announced the end of mandatory certification requirements to access certain settings. Since 27 January, venues are no longer legally required to check the NHS COVID Pass as a condition of entry. The domestic NHS COVID Pass will remain available in the NHS App.

NHS Covid Pass: Children

Holly Lynch: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans that his Department will be able to ensure that a NHS covid pass is available for 12 to 15 year olds, to evidence proof of vaccination and/or proof of recovery from covid-19.

Maggie Throup: Since 3 February 2022, children aged 12 years old and over can obtain a digital NHS COVID Pass for international travel. The pass is available via NHS.UK for those aged 12 years old and over and via the NHS App for those aged 13 years old and over. The digital NHS COVID Pass provides a record of COVID-19 vaccinations received and evidence of natural immunity for 180 days following a positive National Health Service polymerase chain reaction test.

Coronavirus: South Africa

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will have discussions, alongside Cabinet colleagues, with the South African authorities to establish whether the latest official WHO figures which indicate an 80 per cent reduction in new cases of covid-19 within the last month are accurate.

Maggie Throup: There are no plans to do so. The UK Health Security Agency does not review the accuracy of official World Health Organization (WHO) data from other countries. The Government continues to engage with South African colleagues and other international partners such as the WHO, foreign ministries and public health laboratories to enable data sharing and strengthen global surveillance.

Coronavirus: Screening

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what process his Department is putting place for people acquiring free-of-charge covid-19 tests from 1 April 2022.

Maggie Throup: From 1 April 2022, free asymptomatic testing will end with the exception of some at risk groups. We will provide further details on eligible groups in due course.

HIV Infection: Screening

Charlotte Nichols: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Government's policy paper entitled Towards Zero - An action plan towards ending HIV transmission, AIDS and HIV-related deaths in England - 2022 to 2025, whether there is a date by which sexual health services must be delivering a 90% HIV testing offer rate to first time attendees.

Maggie Throup: The UK Health Security Agency will publish a monitoring and evaluation framework in 2022. This will provide key indicators and timeframes to monitor the implementation of the HIV Action Plan, including the commitment to achieve a 90% HIV testing offer rate to first time attendees at sexual health services.

Coronavirus: Screening

Ms Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to help ensure that people eligible for antiviral treatments against covid-19 on the basis of significant vulnerability will be able to access (a) timely and (b) free covid-19 (i) lateral flow and (ii) PCR tests after 31 March 2022.

Maggie Throup: From 1 April 2022, free asymptomatic testing will be available for a number of at-risk groups. We are currently developing options to support those eligible for antiviral treatments against COVID-19 on the basis of significant vulnerability.

Alcoholic Drinks: Labelling

Martyn Day: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has with his counterparts in the devolved Administrations on the upcoming consultation on calorie labelling of alcoholic products.

Maggie Throup: Departmental officials are in regular contact with their counterparts in the devolved administrations on United Kingdom-wide measures in the healthy weight strategy, including calorie labelling of alcoholic products.

Screening: Medical Equipment

Wera Hobhouse: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an estimate of the volume of plastic waste that has been generated as a result of the use of (a) PCR and (b) lateral flow covid-19 tests.

Maggie Throup: We have no plans to make such an estimate as information on used later flow device and polymerase chain reaction tests is not held. The UK Health Security Agency is committed to reviewing options for minimising testing related wastage.

Healthy Start Scheme

Mrs Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he has taken to ensure all (a) retailers and (b) retail staff are thoroughly aware and trained to serve customers using the Healthy Start card.

Maggie Throup: The NHS Business Services Authority has provided training to retailers through roundtable sessions, external showcases, comprehensive guidance materials and one-on-one sessions.

Obesity: Eating Disorders

Daisy Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department has taken to ensure that the National Obesity Strategy does not result in effects that could potentially undermine the aims of the Eating Disorder Strategy.

Maggie Throup: We have considered the views of mental health charities and experts during the development of plans to implement the measures in ‘Tackling obesity: empowering adults and children to live healthier lives’. This includes feedback from a range of experts in response to the public consultations on specific policy proposals. We have also published impact assessments alongside each of these proposals.

Screening: Medical Equipment

Wera Hobhouse: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether an assessment was made during the design stage of the covid-19 testing system of the environmental effects of plastic waste generated as a result of (a) PCR and (b) lateral flow covid-19 tests.

Maggie Throup: No assessment was made. However, work on improving the environmental and sustainability aspects of all testing products is continuing.

Coronavirus: Screening

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether people taking part in the PANORAMIC study will continue to receive free covid-19 tests.

Maggie Throup: From 1 April 2022, limited symptomatic testing will be available for a small number of at-risk groups. The forthcoming testing strategy will provide further detail, including for patients who may be eligible to enrol in the PANORAMIC study.

Coronavirus: Screening

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether (a) friends, (b) family members and (c) carers of immunocompromised people will be able to access free asymptomatic covid-19 tests once mass free testing has ended.

Maggie Throup: From 1 April 2022, free access to lateral flow device tests for the public in England will end. We will continue to make testing available for a small number of at-risk groups. Further details on eligible groups will be made available in due course.

Coronavirus: Screening

Daisy Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the impact of ending free-of-charge covid-19 lateral flow testing for the general public on health services and patient outcomes.

Maggie Throup: From 1 April 2022, free lateral flow testing for the general public in England will end. There will be some limited testing available for a small number of at-risk groups. Further details on eligible groups will be provide in due course. We will continue to keep the impact of these policies on health services and patient outcomes under review.

Coronavirus: Screening

Daisy Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the impact of ending free-of-charge covid-19 lateral flow tests on pregnant women.

Maggie Throup: From 1 April 2022, free access to lateral flow device tests for the public in England will end. We will continue to make testing available for a small number of at-risk groups. Further details on eligible groups will be provided in due course. We will continue to keep the impact of these policies on pregnant women under review.

Coronavirus: Screening

Julian Sturdy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether people with the Acute Myeloid Sarcoma form of Leukaemia will continue to be eligible for free covid-19 testing after the end of free mass testing for the public on 1 April 2022.

Maggie Throup: We will continue to make testing available for a small number of at-risk groups. Further details on eligible groups will be made available shortly.

Department for Education

Schools: Energy

Navendu Mishra: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans he has to support schools facing rising energy costs.

Mr Robin Walker: The department recognises that schools face inflationary pressures, and we continue to monitor the impact of rising energy costs on schools. Cost increases should be seen in the wider context of funding and support for schools. I refer the hon. Member for Stockport to the answer I gave on 25 February 2022 to Question 125076.

Students: Loans

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the command paper entitled Higher Education Policy Statement & Reform Consultation, CP 617, published on 24 February 2022, what plans the Government has to ensure that those who take maternity leave are not penalised with higher-than-average increases in lifetime student loan repayments.

Michelle Donelan: We want a sustainable student finance system that is fair to students and taxpayers – and which continues to enable anyone with the ability and the ambition to benefit from higher education to do so. The student finance system will continue to protect borrowers, including women on maternity leave, or any person on any form of parental leave, if they see a reduction in their income.Student loan repayments are made based on a borrower’s monthly or weekly income, not the interest rate or amount borrowed, and no repayments are made for earnings below the relevant repayment threshold. Repayments are calculated as a fixed percentage of earnings above the relevant repayment threshold - if a borrower’s income drops, so do their repayments. Any outstanding debt, including interest accrued, is written off at the end of the loan term with no detriment to the borrower. No commercial loans offer this level of borrower protection.If, at the end of the year, the borrower’s total income is below the relevant annual threshold, they may reclaim any repayments from the Student Loans Company made during that year.

Family Hubs: North West

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many family hubs will be established in England; and what proportion of those hubs will be situated in the North West.

Will Quince: The government is committed to championing the Family Hub model. Between 2019 and 2021 we announced £39.5 million in support of this commitment, including: In the North West region, funding Bolton, Salford, Stockport, and Warrington to progress work on family hubs, through the Children’s Social Care COVID-19 Regional Recovery and Building Back Better Fund, which runs to the end of the 2021/22 financial year.A £12 million Family Hubs Transformation Fund which will support at least 12 local authorities in England to transform to a family hub model of service delivery. Local authorities were invited to apply for up to £1 million to pay for the change process through both programme and capital funding. The deadline to apply has now passed, and we are currently reviewing applications. At the Budget on 21 November 2021, the government announced a further £82 million to create a network of family hubs. This is part of a wider £300 million package to transform services for parents, carers, babies, and children in half of council areas across England. The Department for Education and Department for Health and Social Care are working to determine the best approach for selecting local authorities and distributing the funding. We will set out more detail on this programme in due course.

Special Educational Needs: Cheshire

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many requests for education, health and care plans were (a) requested by parents and (b) approved by Cheshire West and Chester local authority in each of the last five years.

Will Quince: The number of requests for education, health and care (EHC) plans in Cheshire West and Chester can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/e1bc78f6-f918-41e9-865b-f81c971a05d0. The department does not hold data on who made the request, and thus the request numbers provided covers all requests made. The number of new EHC plans approved in Cheshire West and Chester can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/a8b95a6d-2567-4d69-9df3-74a38beec32f.

Schools: Ventilation

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many CO2 monitors his Department has issued to schools in the last 12 months.

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether his Department is still issuing CO2 monitors to schools to help tackle the spread of covid-19.

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much funding he plans to release to schools for improving ventilation to reduce covid-19 infection rates in the next 12 months.

Mr Robin Walker: We have provided CO2 monitors to state-funded education providers, including early years, schools and further education providers, backed by £25 million in government funding. As of 11 February 2022, we have delivered 361,999 CO2 monitors to over 99% of eligible education providers, exceeding our public commitment. Final deliveries to a small number of providers will be completed by mid-March.Feedback suggests that schools are finding the monitors helpful to manage ventilation and, in the majority of education providers, existing ventilation measures are sufficient. Where any issues are identified, in most cases, we expect this to be resolved by opening windows and doors, or, in some cases, minor estate repairs may be needed. Day to day maintenance and minor repairs, including those to improve ventilation, should typically be funded from school revenue budgets. Schools also receive an annual devolved formula capital allocation to spend on small capital projects or capital purchases. For more substantial capital works, schools and those responsible for school buildings have access to funding to improve the condition of buildings through different routes depending on their size and type.For the very few cases where maintaining good ventilation is not possible, we are supplying up to a total of 9,000 air cleaning units in response to this feedback to education providers. As of 24 January 2022, 1,265 providers were eligible to receive air cleaning units. These were allocated to providers based on need, using the eligibility criteria we have set out in our guidance. The majority of eligible education providers have now received their deliveries of air cleaning units.The case for additional support for education providers will be kept under review as part of our overall response to the COVID-19 outbreak and we will continue to work with the sector to understand ventilation needs across the education estate.

Gambling: Advertising

Carolyn Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment his Department has made of whether gambling advertising is a predictor of at risk and problem gambling in secondary school children.

Mr Robin Walker: The department have made relationships education compulsory for all primary school pupils, relationships and sex education (RSE) compulsory for all secondary school pupils and health education compulsory for all pupils in state-funded schools from September 2020. Health education includes teaching pupils about the risks associated with gambling and the statutory guidance is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/relationships-education-relationships-and-sex-education-rse-and-health-education. Under the topic of internet safety and harms, the guidance sets out that young people should be taught about the risks related to online gambling, including the accumulation of debt, how advertising and information is targeted at them and how to be a discerning consumer of information online. To support schools to deliver this content, the department has produced teacher training modules that are free to download and can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/teaching-about-relationships-sex-and-health. The ‘internet safety and harms’ module includes a section on gambling which covers how the industry use advertising to target different demographics. Other curriculum subjects, such as citizenship, mathematics and computing, can also address online gambling and its dangers. This includes developing young people’s financial literacy and highlighting the dangers of online gambling whilst using digital platforms.

Pre-school Education: Closures

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether his Department has made a quantitative assessment of trends in the level of closure of (a) nurseries and (b) early year settings in (i) 2020 and (ii) 2021.

Will Quince: The department continues to monitor the sufficiency of childcare places in England through regular surveys and engagement with early years providers and local authorities. Local authorities are not currently reporting any imminent sufficiency issues and we have not seen a substantial number of parents unable to secure a childcare place, either this term or since early years settings reopened fully on 1 June 2020.According to findings from the 2021 childcare and early years providers survey, 7 in 10 group-based providers reported having spare places in their full-day provision and almost half of childminders (49%) reported having spare capacity on average across the week.There were an estimated 62,000 providers with at least one child aged 0 to 4 years old registered in England in spring 2021, including 21,300 group-based providers, 9,500 school-based providers and 31,200 registered childminders. These providers were offering over 1.5 million Ofsted-registered childcare places. Comparable estimates from 2019 show there were 66,000 providers made up of 21,900 group-based providers, 8,900 school-based providers and 35,100 childminders. The drop in the number of providers between 2019 and 2021 is largely driven by a reduction in the estimated number of childminders. The number of group-based and school-based providers was more stable between these two years. There is no comparable data for 2020 because the 2020 childcare and early years providers survey was postponed due to COVID-19.Ofsted data on movement in the childcare sector shows that there was minimal change in the number of childminders and childcare providers on non-domestic premises (group-based providers) between 31 March 2020 and 31 August 2020. Data from the same period in 2021 shows there was a reduction in the number of childminders from 33,004 on 31 March to 31,957 on 31 August. The reduction in the number of childminders continues a downward trend, with 14,100 (31%) fewer providers than on 31 August 2015. The number of group-based providers remained broadly stable across the two years.In addition to our regular statistical collections, during 2020, the department also carried out three waves of the survey of childcare and early years providers and COVID-19. In all three waves, the majority of providers reported being open at the time of the survey with a small minority being temporarily or permanently closed.

National Tutoring Programme: Finance

Kate Hollern: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans he has for the allocation of funding resulting from the forecast underspend for the National Tutoring Programme.

Mr Robin Walker: The department will continue to support the progress of tutoring through the three flexible routes to high-quality tutoring (school-led tutoring, tuition partners and academic mentors) and will consider in-year adjustments to ensure schools continue offering the type of tutoring that best suits their pupils to maximise the benefits of the programme.

Holocaust: Education

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps is he taking to help ensure that the genocide of Roma and Sinti peoples during the Holocaust is taught as part of the national curriculum.

Mr Robin Walker: The department is fully committed to Holocaust education. In recognition of its importance, the Holocaust is the only historic event which is compulsory within the national curriculum for history at key stage 3. The curriculum gives teachers and schools the freedom to decide how to teach the subject and what resources to use to support an understanding of the Holocaust, and the experiences of non-Jewish victims of Nazi persecution. The department supports school pupils’ and teachers’ understanding of the Holocaust by providing funding for several programmes. This includes £500,000 in the 2021/22 financial year for University College London’s Centre for Holocaust Education, which is match funded by the Pears Foundation, and £2.1 million in the 2021/22 financial year for the Holocaust Educational Trust’s Lessons from Auschwitz project. As part of Holocaust education, a wide range of resources are available to help teachers explain the Nazi persecution of different groups of people. The Lessons from Auschwitz project and the knowledge and training provided by the Centre for Holocaust Education both include information and resources to support an understanding of the Holocaust, including Nazi persecution of non-Jewish groups.

Pupil Exclusions: Cheshire

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many exclusions from school (a) in total and (b) of pupils with special educational needs occurred in Cheshire West and Chester in each of the last five years.

Will Quince: The number of permanent exclusions from schools in total, and for pupils with special educational needs, in the local authority of Cheshire West and Chester for the last five academic years can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/9721ff96-a9db-4f8b-9828-93083b7bd1bb.

Apprentices

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many apprentices were (a) added to and (b) went live on the Apprenticeship Service between 1 April 2021 and 30 November 2021.

Alex Burghart: As of 7 February 2022, the number of commitments reported on the apprenticeship service with planned training start dates between 01 April 2021 and 30 November 2021 was 255,000.The number of apprenticeships with start dates between 01 April 2021 and 30 November 2021 was 251,400, as confirmed by providers reporting on the Individualised Learner Record (ILR) in January.It should be noted, commitments on the apprenticeship service are where potential apprentices, who are expected to go on to start an apprenticeship, have been recorded on the apprenticeship service system. Commitments may be recorded or amended on the apprenticeship service system after the training start date has passed and therefore data should be treated as provisional.Providers may not record learners immediately on the ILR, so a lag may occur between a commitment being recorded in the apprenticeship service and the corresponding commitment being recorded as a start on the ILR.Apprenticeship service commitments and monthly apprenticeship starts figures are published in the ‘Apprenticeship Service and monthly transparency data’ section of the apprenticeships and traineeships statistics publication, found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/apprenticeships-and-traineeships.

Offences against Children

Thangam Debbonaire: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse's Investigation Report into Child sexual exploitation by organised networks, what assessment the Government has made of the the implications for its policies of that report's recommendations; and whether the Government plans to accept and implement recommendation six of that report on unregulated placements.

Will Quince: The department welcomes the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse’s report on child sexual exploitation in organised networks and its findings. The department will carefully consider the inquiry’s recommendations and will respond within the inquiry’s deadline of six months.

Apprentices

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many incentive payments for hiring a new apprentice were made to employers for apprentices who started apprenticeship training between 1 April and 30 November 2021.

Alex Burghart: Our apprentice incentive payments of up to £3,000 have helped employers of all sizes to build back better from the COVID-19 outbreak. The net total of incentive payments made to employers for apprentices who started apprenticeship training between 1 April and 30 November 2021, was 62,419 (as of 24 February 2022). Incentive payments have also supported over 170,000 new apprentices into work between August 2020 and January 2022 (as of 7 February 2022). It should be noted these totals are not static. They may change as and when we receive new Individualised Learner Record data from training providers and employer updates.

Children in Care

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what support his Department is providing to children who live in children's homes.

Will Quince: Children’s social care in Northern Ireland is a transferred power, making it a devolved matter. The answer reflects the position in England.Children’s homes provide care for some of the most vulnerable young people unable to live with their families. This includes children who have suffered abuse or neglect, unaccompanied asylum-seeking children, children on remand, and children with emotional and behavioural difficulties, disabilities, special educational needs, or mental illnesses.Local authorities have primary responsibility for the children in their care. They have a formal role as ‘corporate parents’. Their responsibilities include identifying which children should come into the care system, ensuring there is sufficient accommodation locally to meet the range of needs of looked after children in their area, safeguarding and promoting their wellbeing, ensuring that children’s education and health needs are met, and supporting care leavers.The government provides funding and support to local authorities to help them meet all their duties to looked after children, including those in children’s homes. As well as providing safe, excellent quality care, the government wants to ensure that all homes can meet each child's individual needs and enable them to achieve the best possible outcomes.For example, it has ensured that all looked after children have top priority in school admissions, and all local authorities must appoint a virtual school head with a statutory duty to promote the educational achievement of all children in their care. The government has funded eight Staying Close pilots to test an enhanced offer for young people leaving residential care. Additionally, the government will invest £140 million to introduce new national standards for unregulated provisions for older children.Although we are making progress, the sector still faces challenges. The independent review of children’s social care commenced in March 2021, with Josh MacAlister as Chair. It is looking at how the government can make the system work better.The review is taking a fundamental look at the needs, experiences, and outcomes of the children supported by children’s social care. It is drawing on a broad range of expertise and prioritising hearing the voices of children, young people, and adults that have received the help or support of a social worker, or who have been looked after. The review is looking at the whole system of support, safeguarding, protection and care, and the child’s journey into and out of that system. We expect it to point to new directions in children’s social care and directly improve the lives of vulnerable children.

Special Educational Needs: Reviews

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what his timetable is for the publication of the SEND Review; and what plans he has for a review of the Education and Health Care Plan process.

Will Quince: The department will publish the special educational needs and disability (SEND) review Green Paper in the first quarter of this year for full public consultation. The review aims to ensure that children and young people with SEND receive the support they need and have a positive experience within a financially sustainable system. We want to clarify accountabilities at every level of the system and realise the benefits of aligned education, health, and care provision.

Free School Meals: Primary Education

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether he has had discussions with Ministerial colleagues in the Treasury on the potential merits of increasing the funding rate for universal infant free school meals to the rate allocated for free school meals.

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment he has made of the impact of (a) rising inflation, (b) rising cost of labour and (c) recruitment challenges on funding for the school food industry; and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether he has made representations to Ministerial colleagues in the Treasury on the potential merits of increasing funding for universal infant free school meals in the context of the rising cost of food and labour.

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether he plans to increase funding for Universal Infant Free School Meals in line with inflation.

Will Quince: The department spends around £600 million per year ensuring around 1.3 million infants enjoy a free, healthy, and nutritious meal at lunchtime following the introduction of the universal infant free school meal policy in 2014. The per meal rate of £2.34 per child was increased in the 2020/21 financial year. The funding rate for the 2022/23 financial year will be published with the funding allocations in June. The department holds regular meetings with other government departments and with food industry representatives, covering a variety of issues including public sector food supplies. Schools are responsible for the provision of school meals and may enter individual contracts with suppliers and caterers to meet this duty. We are confident that schools will continue providing pupils with nutritious school meals as required by the school food standards. We routinely consider contingency arrangements and expect schools and catering companies supplying them to do the same.

Ministry of Justice

Weddings

Charlotte Nichols: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether his Department plans to allow weddings to take place outside without the need for a permanent structure or in an approved structure, on a permanent basis.

Tom Pursglove: On 20 December 2021, the Government launched a public consultation on outdoor weddings and civil partnerships. The consultation set out, and sought views on, the Government’s proposal to continue to permit outdoor civil marriages and civil partnerships on approved premises indefinitely, and separately to permit outdoor religious marriages in the grounds of places of worship. The Government response to the consultation will be published in due course.

Approved Premises: North East

Matt Vickers: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many Approved Premises there are in (a) Stockton, (b) Darlington, (c) Middlesbrough, (d) Redcar and (e) Hartlepool.

Kit Malthouse: There are two Approved Premises in Middlesbrough but none in the surrounding areas of Stockton, Darlington, Redcar or Hartlepool.

Crown Court: Buildings

Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many courtrooms in each Crown Court building in England and Wales have been unused in each of the last three years.

James Cartlidge: HM Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS) does not record how many courtrooms in each Crown Court building in England and Wales have been unused in each of the last three years. Crown courts sit twice a day in sessions and utilisation is monitored by measuring the number of sessions available and those used. It would be a disproportionate cost to ascertain accurately the number of crown courtrooms unused from this data.

Knives: Crime

Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the average time between arrest and appearing in front of magistrates for people charged with knife possession has been in each of the last ten years.

James Cartlidge: The Ministry of Justice routinely publishes timeliness estimates of the key stages of the criminal justice system as part of the Criminal Court Statistics quarterly National Statistics release. The published estimates cover the periods from offence to charge, charge to first listing and from first listing to completion (at either magistrates’ or Crown Court). The latest published information is available to September 2021 and can be found at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/criminal-court-statistics.

Ministry of Justice: Social Media

Florence Eshalomi: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much his Department has spent on producing social media videos and graphics for use on ministerial social media accounts since January 2020.

Florence Eshalomi: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many staff in his Department manage ministerial social media accounts as (a) their primary responsibility and (b) part of their role.

James Cartlidge: We are now in a digital age, where social media and digital communications are an essential part of government, helping inform the public directly about matters which may affect their lives or interests.In addition to the Civil Service Code, the Government Communications Service offers propriety in digital and social media guidance and is available to discuss questions relating to social media when working with ministers.The Ministry of Justice employs an in-house social media team to use digital channels and create content to communicate departmental policies online. It is often appropriate for content relating to Government policies, guidance and announcements, created by civil servants, to be amplified or posted on other channels including ministers' own social media accounts where this helps drive wider engagement from the public.

Tribunals: Special Educational Needs

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many appeals to the First Tier Tribunal (Special Educational Needs and Disability) regarding SEND plans found in favour of the appellant in cases against the refusal to secure an EHC assessment in each of the last five years.

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many appeals to the First-tier Tribunal (Special Educational Needs and Disability) in respect of SEND plans found in favour of the appellant in cases relating to the content of an EHC plan in each of the last five years.

James Cartlidge: Information can be found in the attached table.131259_131260_table (xlsx, 15.5KB)

Employment Tribunals Service and Family Courts

Stuart Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to increase capacity in (a) family courts and (b) employment tribunals.

James Cartlidge: We continue to take action to tackle the impact the pandemic has had on our courts and tribunals system. We invested £250 million to support recovery in our courts in the last financial year (2020/21). This included £76 million to increase our capacity to hear cases in the family and civil courts, as well as in tribunals. The recent Spending Review has also provided £324 million over the next three years to improve waiting times in the civil and family courts, and tribunals. In the family court, we sat to our highest ever level in 2020 – 54,830 days in public law and 71,832 days in private law. This is 9% higher than we sat in 2019 for public law and 5% higher than we sat in 2019 for private law. We increased Cafcass’s budget by £13 million in 2021, so that they have more capacity and can manage the additional pressures caused by the pandemic. In addition, we have provided Cafcass with an additional £491,000 in 2021, to be spent in the areas of the country where their resources are most under pressure.We are also managing demand in the family courts to ensure the capacity can be used most effectively. In March 2021, we launched a Family Mediation Voucher Scheme for those seeking to resolve private law matters relating to a child. Since its introduction, over 6,000 families have successfully used the scheme to access mediation and help resolve disputes outside of court. In January this year, we increased the overall funding for the scheme to just under £3.3 million.In the employment tribunal, we increased the sitting day allocation from 30,000 in the 2020/21 financial year to 35,000 in the 2021/22 financial year. To ensure this capacity is used effectively, we established a joint ministerial taskforce last year with the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, to reduce pressures on the tribunals and develop a joint plan for recovery. We have also established a virtual region of fee-paid judges able to hear remote cases from any region, which we expect to deliver more than 500 additional sitting days. Across both jurisdictions, we have run ambitious recruitment campaigns to expand our judicial capacity and boost caseworker numbers.We are also continuing to use remote hearings. This provides additional capacity to ensure cases that work well remotely can be heard quickly, while also freeing up space for cases that must be heard in-person. While it remains for the judge to decide whether a particular trial or hearing is suitable to be heard virtually, video hearings will continue to be a critical part of court and tribunal operations. For hearings that cannot be dealt with virtually, we have maximised the capacity of existing courtrooms by adjusting our estate to be Covid-secure.

HM Courts and Tribunals Service: Disability

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 20 January 2022 to Question 102716 on HM Courts and Tribunals Service: Disability, whether the test phase went live as planned on 31 January 2022.

James Cartlidge: The Digital Support test phase went live in the West Midlands Combined Authority with Social Security Child Support Appeals on 31 January. The Single Justice Service went into the test phase on 14 February. The test phase ends at the end of March. Full national and jurisdictional coverage of live reformed HMCTS services is expected late Spring 2022.

Criminal Proceedings and Judgements

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when the his Department will publish prosecutions, convictions and sentencing outcomes in England and Wales up to the year ending December 2021.

James Cartlidge: National statistics on the number of prosecutions, convictions and sentencing outcomes for England and Wales for the calendar year of 2021 are due for publication in May 2022.

Channel Islands: World War II

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the deportations in 1942 from the then German-occupied Channel Islands, how many of the citizens who were deported (a) were British, (b) served as military personnel officers in WW1 and (c) were killed by the German occupied authorities.

James Cartlidge: The information requested is not held by the Ministry of Justice.

Courts: Repairs and Maintenance

Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much funding his Department provides to courts in England and Wales for the maintenance of their premises.

James Cartlidge: The HMCTS Annual Report and Accounts, published on GOV.UK, provide information regarding annual estate expenditure across England and Wales.In 2020/21 HMCTS was provided with an additional £105m in capital funding that allowed extra investment into high priority maintenance, to enhance the resilience of our estate, maintaining capacity to help our courts get back up to speed.

Courts: Fines

Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to his Answer of 26 January 2022 to Question 105550 on Court: Fines, if he will provide a breakdown of the value of court-imposed fines for those (a) imposed in magistrates and crown courts, (b) compensation orders, (c) costs orders, (d) criminal courts charges and (e) victim surcharge orders for each (i) court and (ii) region of England and Wales in each year since 2016.

James Cartlidge: The information requested under (a), (b), (c), and (d) has been provided in the attached table. The data relating to criminal court charges has only been included for 2015-16 as the charge was only in force for a 9-month period in 2015, since that data the only amendments on these accounts relate to remissions, where the court has remitted the imposition. It is not currently possible to provide the same information specifically for (i) each court and (ii) region of England and Wales. The data has been supplied by areas as used by the HMCTS case management system. The Government takes the recovery and enforcement of all financial impositions very seriously and remains committed to ensuring impositions are paid. The courts will do everything within their powers to trace those who do not pay and use a variety of means to ensure the recovery of criminal fines and financial penalties. This includes deducting money from an individual offender’s earnings or benefits if they are unemployed or issuing warrants instructing approved enforcement agents to seize and sell goods belonging to the offender. If the offender does not pay as ordered and the money cannot be recovered by other means, then the court can take other actions which includes sending them to prison for non-payment of the fine. This Government believes that it is important for offenders to make reparation for their crimes. In recent years, we have therefore legislated to require courts to give reasons where no compensation order is made in appropriate cases and lifted the £5,000 cap on compensation awards in respect of offenders aged 18 or over in the magistrates’ court. In addition, this Government removed the £5,000 cap for level 5 fines in the magistrates’ court in 2015 and increased the minimum Victim Surcharge payment from £20 to £34 in 2016.Table (xlsx, 43.4KB)

Human Rights Act 1998

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to plans to reform the Human Rights Act announced on 14 December 2021, what steps he is taking to progress those plans.

James Cartlidge: On 14 December 2021 the Government published a consultation on proposals to update the Human Rights Act 1998. This was published alongside the Independent Human Rights Act Review (IHRAR) report. The consultation closes on 8 March 2022. During the consultation period, meetings are taking place with key stakeholders as part of a wider engagement plan. Any legislative proposals will be further developed and finalised following the consultation and once all responses have been reviewed. The Government’s consultation can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/human-rights-act-reform-a-modern-bill-of-rights. The IHRAR report can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/independent-human-rights-act-review.

Courts: Closures

Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 21 February 2022, to Question 121764, on Courts: Closures, if he will publish (a) figures for the sale proceeds for each of those 164 sales and (b) details of to whom each property was sold.

James Cartlidge: The courts sales proceeds for each of the courts sold by HMCTS since 2010 is shown below. Purchaser information was published in PQ 132501 for the period 2010/11 to 2017/18, however, HMCTS does not hold this information from the 2018/19 financial year onwards. Since 2015, sale proceeds totalling £211m have been reinvested in the HMCTS reform programme, to transform the justice system, including introducing 21st century technology and online services to increase access to justice and improve efficiency. The decision to close any court is not taken lightly. It only happens following full public consultation and only when effective access to justice can be maintained. As part of the Spending Review, we are investing £477 million in the Criminal Justice System over the next three years to help reduce the backlog further and deliver the swift access to justice that victims deserve. CourtSales Proceeds (£)Aberdare Magistrates' Court275,000Abergavenny Magistrates' Court460,000Abertillery Magistrates' Court81,000Acton Magistrates' Court1,176,665Alnwick Magistrates' Court20,000Alton Magistrates’ Court908,310Ammanford Magistrates' Court90,000Andover Magistrates' Court537,500Ashford Magistrates' Court375,000Balham Magistrates' Youth Court2,000,000Banbury Magistrates’ and County Court1,275,000Barking & Dagenham Magistrates' Court505,000Barry Magistrates' Court250,000Batley & Dewsbury Magistrates' Court300,000Bicester Magistrates' Court1,270,000Bingley (Keighley) Magistrates' Court253,310Birmingham Magistrates' Youth Court1,350,000Bishop Auckland Magistrates' Court150,000Blackfriars Crown Court64,258,161Blandford Forum Magistrates' Court175,000Blaydon Magistrates' Court144,990Bournemouth Magistrates' Court1,920,299Bow County Court3,500,000Bracknell Magistrates’ Court1,000,001Brecon Law Courts Magistrates'575,000Brentford Magistrates' Court650,000Bridgend Law Courts Magistrates'375,000Bridgwater Magistrates' Court167,652Burton Upon Trent County Court185,000Burton upon Trent Magistrates' Court240,000Bury Magistrates' & County Court400,000Bury St Edmunds Crown & Magistrates' Court1,050,000Caerphilly Magistrates' Court445,000Camberwell Green Magistrates' Court13,492,500Camborne Magistrates' Court137,500Cardigan Magistrates' Court48,910Carmarthen Law Courts (The Guildhall) Magistrates'223,000Chesterfield County Court20,000Chester-le-Street Magistrates' Court100,000Chippenham Magistrates' & Civil Court2,500,000Cirencester Magistrates' Court450,000Coalville Magistrates' Court245,000Coleford Magistrates' Court170,000Consett County Court81,265Consett Magistrates' Court225,000Corby Magistrates' Court140,000Cromer Magistrates' Court325,000Dartford Magistrates' Court1,000,000Daventry Magistrates' Court140,000Denbigh Magistrates' Court165,000Dewsbury County Court276,000Didcot Magistrates' Court400,000Dolgellau Crown & Magistrates' Court67,509Doncaster County Court270,000Dover Magistrates' Court350,000Eastbourne Magistrates' & County Court805,000Epping Magistrates' Court750,000Ely Magistrates Court1Fareham Magistrates' Court1,150,000Feltham Magistrates' Court2,150,000Flint Magistrates' Court87,500Frome Magistrates' Court397,666Goole Magistrates' Court60,000Gosforth Magistrates' Court378,000Grantham County Court112,000Grantham Magistrates' Court560,000Gravesend County Court100,000Grays Magistrates' Court365,475Greenwich Magistrates' Court12,005,000Guisborough (East Langbaurgh) Magistrates' Court275,000Halesowen Magistrates' Court314,250Halifax County & Magistrates’ Court750,000Hammersmith Magistrates' Court43,000,000Haringey Magistrates' Court10,100,000Harrow Magistrates' Court1,125,000Hemel Hempstead Magistrates' Court650,000Hinckley Magistrates' Court800,000Holyhead Magistrates' Court112,500Honiton Magistrates' Court183,000Houghton-Le-Spring Magistrates' Court90,000Ilford County Court1,313,013Ilkeston Magistrates' Court610,000Keighley County Court130,000Kendal Magistrates' & County Court720,000Kettering County Court200,000Kettering Magistrates' Court187,500Knowsley Magistrates' Court250,000Knutsford Crown Court1,600,000Lewes Magistrates' Court1,900,000Liskeard Magistrates' Court380,000Llangefni Civil and Family Court72,000Llwynypia Magistrates' Court471,010Lowestoft Magistrates' Court150,000Lyndhurst Magistrates' Court900,000Macclesfield Magistrates' Court385,000Maidenhead Magistrates’ Court1,900,000Market Drayton Magistrates' Court100,000Market Harborough Magistrates' Court291,500Melton Mowbray Magistrates' Court147,000Mid-Sussex (Haywards Heath) Magistrates' Court2,105,000Neath and Port Talbot Civil and Family Court250,000Neath Magistrates’ Court450,000Newark Magistrates' Court405,000Northallerton Magistrates' Court450,000Northwich Magistrates' Court260,000Oldham Magistrates' Court650,000Ormskirk Magistrates' Court250,000Oswestry Magistrates' Court110,602Penrith Magistrates' Court174,600Penzance County Court230,000Pontefract Magistrates' Court205,000Pontypool County Court200,000Pontypridd Magistrates' Court350,000Pwllheli Magistrates' Court131,013Rawtenstall Magistrates' Court135,000Redditch County Court345,000Redhill Magistrates' & Reigate County Court6,550,000Retford Magistrates' Court151,000Rhyl County Court92,150Richmond-upon-Thames Magistrates' Court9,838,000Rochdale Magistrates Court330,000Rugby Magistrates' Court285,000Runcorn (Halton) Magistrates' Court200,000Salford Magistrates' Court544,000Sandwell Magistrates' Court530,000Selby Magistrates' Court200,000Sittingbourne Magistrates' Court430,000Skegness Magistrates' Court150,000Solihull Magistrates' Court4,312,000Southport (North Sefton) Magistrates' Court304,000Spalding Magistrates’ Court270,430Stafford Magistrates' Court435,000Stoke on Trent Magistrates' Court186,000Stourbridge County Court345,000Sudbury Magistrates' Court112,000Sunderland County Court326,000Sutton Coldfield Magistrates' Court440,000Sutton Magistrates' Court2,247,000Swaffham Magistrates' Court155,000Tamworth Magistrates' & County Court437,500Thetford Magistrates' Court231,550Torquay Magistrates' Court450,000Totnes Magistrates' Court237,000Tottenham Magistrates' Court4,570,000Tower Bridge Magistrates' Court8,525,000Trafford Magistrates' Court & Altrincham County Court3,235,000Tynedale (Hexham) Magistrates' Court102,500Wakefield & Pontefract Magistrates' Court360,000Waltham Forest Magistrates' Court3,471,040Wantage Magistrates’ Court657,000Watford Magistrates' Court3,836,000West Berkshire (Newbury) Magistrates' Court1,000,000West Bromwich Magistrates' Court160,000Weston-Super-Mare Magistrates' Court116,078Whitehaven Magistrates' Court200,000Wimborne Magistrates' Court310,000Wisbech Magistrates' Court151,350Witney Magistrates' Court330,000Woking Magistrates' Court1,050,000Woolwich County Court2,555,000Woolwich Magistrates' Court335,000Worksop County Court151,335Worksop Magistrates' Court115,000Yate (North Avon) Magistrates' Court1,350,000 264,287,135

Courts: Costs and Fines

Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will publish figures for (a) unpaid court fines, (b) debt from compensation orders and (c) unpaid court costs for each court in England and Wales.

James Cartlidge: The information requested under (a), (b), (c) has been provided in the attached table, as at 31st March 2021. It is not currently possible to provide the same information specifically for each court in England and Wales. The data has been supplied by areas as used by the HMCTS case management system.The Government takes the recovery and enforcement of all financial impositions very seriously and remains committed to ensuring impositions are paid. The courts will do everything within their powers to trace those who do not pay and use a variety of means to ensure the recovery of criminal fines and financial penalties. This includes deducting money from an individual offender’s earnings or benefits if they are unemployed or issuing warrants instructing approved enforcement agents to seize and sell goods belonging to the offender. If the offender does not pay as ordered and the money cannot be recovered by other means, then the court can take other actions which includes sending them to prison for non-payment of the fine. This Government believes that it is important for offenders to make reparation for their crimes. In recent years, we have therefore legislated to require courts to give reasons where no compensation order is made in appropriate cases and lifted the £5,000 cap on compensation awards in respect of offenders aged 18 or over in the magistrates’ court. In addition, this Government removed the £5,000 cap for level 5 fines in the magistrates’ court in 2015 and increased the minimum Victim Surcharge payment from £20 to £34 in 2016.Table (xlsx, 19.5KB)

Treasury

Wines: Excise Duties

Adam Holloway: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if the Government will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a reduced duty rate for sales at the production point for the English wine industry, in order to provide support for that industry and the tourism sector through vineyard visits, winery tours, and distillery and brewery visits.

Helen Whately: A reduced duty rate for sales by domestic producers, such as English winemakers, would privilege domestic producers and would breach the Government’s international obligations to treat imported products equally. While the Government keeps all taxes under review, there are no plans to introduce a reduced duty rate for sales by domestic producers.

Alcoholic Drinks: Excise Duties

David Linden: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies that a 4 per cent alcohol by volume pint of beer or cider contains more alcohol than a Scotch Whisky cocktail but raises less duty under his Department's reform proposals; and if he will make a statement.

David Linden: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what comparative assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of the way his Department's plans to tax alcohol by product strength with the guidance of the Chief Medical Officer which does not make a distinction in how units of alcohol are consumed in respect of responsible drinking.

Helen Whately: The Government intends to move to a new progressive system of duty that taxes all products in reference to the litres of pure alcohol they contain, with products with higher concentration of alcohol paying a higher rate of duty per unit. As part of this approach, the Government is cutting duty on lower ABV spirits-based drinks, such as pre-packaged gin and tonics, and is increasing duty on higher ABV products, such as strong ‘white’ cider and fortified wine. The Government received evidence supporting this approach during its call for evidence held in 2020. As set out in the summary of responses published in October 2021, public health groups cited the correlation between cheap, high strength spirits (such as vodka) and alcohol-related harms, as the volume of drink needed to reach intoxication is smaller with higher strength drinks. The Government is therefore addressing these concerns.

Energy: VAT

Catherine West: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, for what reason his Department has decided not to cut VAT on domestic energy bills.

Lucy Frazer: The Government already applies a reduced rate of VAT at 5 per cent on domestic fuel and power such as gas and electricity.The Government is providing significant financial support of up to £350 to the majority of households, which will cover more than half of the forecast £700 rise in energy bills for the average household. This support is worth £9.1 billion in 2022-23. This is more generous than removing VAT on domestic fuel and power, which would not be targeted because it would also benefit high-income households that do not need support. There would also be no guarantee that suppliers would pass on the discounts to all customers.While the Government keeps all taxes under review, there are no plans to remove VAT on domestic fuel and power.

National Insurance Contributions

Alan Brown: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the total value was of National Insurance contributions received from people resident in (a) Scotland and (b) the rest of the UK for each year since 2000.

Lucy Frazer: The estimates of annual National Insurance contributions by country and region of the UK can be found in ‘Country and Regional Public Sector Finances: Revenue Tables’: https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/governmentpublicsectorandtaxes/publicsectorfinance/datasets/countryandregionalpublicsectorfinancesrevenuetables.

Alcoholic Drinks: Russia

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will publish the annual value of (a) imports of alcoholic spirits from Russia to the UK and (b) exports of alcoholic spirits from the UK to Russia.

Lucy Frazer: HMRC is responsible for the collection and publication of data on imports and exports of goods to and from the UK. HMRC releases this information monthly, as a National Statistic called the Overseas Trade in Goods Statistics (OTS), which is available via their dedicated website: www.uktradeinfo.com. From this website, it is possible to build your own data tables based upon bespoke search criteria: https://www.uktradeinfo.com/trade-data/ots-custom-table/ Trade data related to ‘spirits-beverages’ between the UK and Russia is publicly available under commodity code heading 22 of the Trade Tariff online: www.uktradeinfo.com. The site also contains a ‘Help’ function with information on how to extract trade data. Further assistance can also be obtained via the Customer Services team by calling 03000 594 250 or emailing uktradeinfo@hmrc.gov.uk.

Tax Avoidance

Daisy Cooper: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the Loan Charge and HMRC's power to open a tax year and place it under enquiry, how many people are affected by having at least one of their tax years opened; and how many of those people have had that tax year opened for twelve months or more without any communication from HMRC.

Lucy Frazer: HMRC opened approximately 25,000 enquiries into individuals who are subject to the Loan Charge. As part of its overall compliance processes, and its commitment to update taxpayers at least annually, all of these taxpayers should have received correspondence from HMRC in the last 12 months, either to open the enquiry or to update them on their position.

Assets

Kelly Tolhurst: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the (a) effectiveness of HMRC's policy on long-life assets and (b) effect of that matter on tug owners.

Kelly Tolhurst: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of reviewing HMRC policy on capital allowances on workboats.

Lucy Frazer: Capital allowances, including writing down allowances, provide tax relief for businesses' capital expenditure on qualifying plant or machinery. In 1997 a 6 per cent special rate writing down allowance was introduced for assets with a long life, which is more than 25 years, to align their tax position more closely with the commercial accounts of a business. This compared to a 25 per cent main rate, which is now 18 per cent, for plant and machinery. HMRC does not classify which assets should be written down at the main or special rate of writing down allowances. Instead, businesses should identify whether an asset they have acquired has a useful economic life of more or less than 25 years when new. Ships were initially exempted from this change, with owners given 13 years to adjust to the long-life asset rules. Ships are now treated consistently with all other business assets. The Government keeps all tax reliefs under review.

Welfare Tax Credits: British Nationals Abroad

Luke Pollard: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many UK residents who were trapped in Afghanistan for longer than 12 weeks in 2021 subsequently had their tax credits claims ended.

Luke Pollard: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the financial impact on families who were trapped in in Afghanistan for longer than 12 weeks in 2021 of the suspension of their claims for tax credits.

Luke Pollard: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of introducing an exception to the termination of tax credit applications due to absence in the event that the applicant was not able to safely return to the UK from Afghanistan.

Lucy Frazer: The Government is aware of fewer than five cases where a UK resident travelled to Afghanistan and did not return to the UK within the 12-week time limit for temporary absences from the UK as set out in the tax credits legislation. Under the tax credits legislation, HMRC can only pay customers who are temporarily absent from the UK for up to a maximum of 12 weeks. When the end of the relevant period has been reached, claims are terminated, regardless of the circumstances. Where a tax credit claim is terminated because the customer does not meet the conditions for presence in the UK, the customer can apply for other means of support, such as Universal Credit, on their return to the UK.

Sanctions and Anti-money Laundering Act 2018

Liam Byrne: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will set out the (a) number of civil servants and (b) budget devoted to (i) developing targets of individuals and companies for sanctions under the Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act 2018, (ii) designating individuals and companies under that Act, and (iii) implementing enforcement and global application of designations made under that Act in (A) each of the last three years and (B) as at 28 February 2022.

John Glen: The Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI), part of HM Treasury, is the competent authority for financial sanctions in the UK. The staff in post in OFSI was 37.8 FTE as at 31 March 2021. This information can be found in HM Treasury’s Outcome Delivery Plan 2021 to 2022, available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/hm-treasury-outcome-delivery-plan/hm-treasury-outcome-delivery-plan-2021-to-2022 The number of staff has since increased and is now increasing again, in light of recent developments in Ukraine. Releasing further details of OFSI’s budget and headcount by function could prejudice its operational effectiveness. Sanctions policy, and the making of designations, is an FCDO competence.

Sanctions: Russia

Dame Margaret Hodge: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many law firms have reported having designated persons as their clients under the Russian Sanctions Regulations.

John Glen: When individuals or firms from any sector report frozen funds or dealing with a designated person to OFSI, OFSI takes appropriate action depending on the report. Where there may be financial sanctions compliance concerns we investigate accordingly. We cannot publicise information about specific reports, or reports based on specific sectors/financial sanctions regimes, as this could prejudice ongoing investigations.

Sanctions: Russia

Dame Margaret Hodge: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many applications for licences relating to legal fees OFSI has received for the Russia Sanctions Regulations.

John Glen: OFSI has received 2 applications for new licences under the Russia regulations that would allow for the payment of reasonable legal fees in the financial year 2021-22, up to and including 28 February.

Guaranteed Minimum Pensions

Alan Brown: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many people have had their guaranteed minimum pensions reduced in financial year 2021-22 following reviews by HMRC in (a) Scotland and (b) the rest of the UK.

John Glen: HMRC do not hold the information requested. Pension Scheme Administrators (PSAs) can compare the Guaranteed Minimum Pension (GMP) value they hold against HMRC records using the online GMP Checker Service held on GOV.UK. However, if the information held by HMRC indicates to PSAs that its records are incorrect and a lower amount is payable than is in payment, it doesn’t mean that the scheme needs to reduce the pension in payment. This is a decision for the pension scheme. It is the responsibility of pension schemes and employers to maintain records of their pension scheme memberships and administer their members or employees’ pensions. It is for the pension provider to calculate and make the correct payments to individuals.

Alcoholic Drinks: Production

Christian Wakeford: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the different costs of production between cider and beer.

Helen Whately: The Treasury considers production costs complex to estimate, as different businesses will have different business models, impacting production costs. Officials have received data from some brewers and cidermakers who have chosen to share this information, however given the commercial sensitivity of it, the Government is not in a position to share it publicly. A consultation on the alcohol duty review ran from 27 October to 30 January, and the Treasury is now in the process of analysing responses. We will continue to monitor the economic impact of our reforms, and welcome feedback from stakeholders on this point.

Alcoholic Drinks: Excise Duties

Christian Wakeford: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the effect on revenue of equalising cider and beer duty as part of the alcohol duty system changes.

Christian Wakeford: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of equalising cider and beer duty to improve public health.

Helen Whately: The Government has considered the merits of equalising beer and cider duty as part of its alcohol duty review, both from a public health and revenue raising perspective.  However, while public health remains an important focus of our review, this must be balanced against the need to support businesses and, given the cider industry has been in consistent decline over the past decade, the Government has decided not to equalise cider with other categories.

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

Russia: Foreign Relations

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to engage in dialogue with countries which are trading or have a relationship with Russia in order to seek to de-escalate the invasion of Ukraine.

James Cleverly: We are in regular dialogue with our partners and continue to call on Russia to de-escalate and pursue a path of diplomacy. We have done this through NATO, the UN, the OSCE, and our partners in the G7 and across Europe.

Russia: Shipping

Dame Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether the Government plans to include British ports in the sanctions regime against Russia.

James Cleverly: New legislation made and laid on 1 March prohibits Russian ships, and other ships specified by the Secretary of State, from entering ports in the United Kingdom. This legislation confers powers on the Secretary of State and harbour authorities to detain Russian ships or specified ships at ports or anchorages, and confers powers on the Secretary of State to control the movement of Russian ships or specified ships by requiring them to leave or enter specified ports, proceed to a specified place or remain where they are. It also prohibits the registration of ships on the UK Ship Register where they are owned, controlled, chartered or operated by a designated person or persons connected with Russia, or are Russian flagged or registered, or where they are a specified ship.

Iran: Detainees

Martyn Day: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent progress she has made on securing the release of (a) Anoosheh Ashoori and (b) other British nationals held in Iran.

James Cleverly: We remain committed to securing the immediate and permanent release of unfairly detained British nationals in Iran, including Anoosheh Ashoori, Morad Tahbaz and Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe. The Foreign Secretary continues to raise Iran's practice of detaining British dual nationals with her Iranian counterpart, including during their call this month. Our Ambassador in Tehran also continues to raise these cases with the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, most recently on 21 February.

Russia: Foreign Relations

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment she has made of whether Russia has developed an (a) economic, (b) diplomatic or (c) industrial relationship with countries other than those that are part of NATO.

James Cleverly: Russia seeks to have economic, diplomatic and industrial relations with a very wide range of countries. It is our assessment that there is no doubt that these will be severely impacted by Russia's aggressive and unlawful actions against Ukraine.

Russia: Ukraine

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what additional diplomatic steps she will take to prevent further Russian incursion into Ukraine.

James Cleverly: We are coordinating with our allies and partners, bilaterally and through multilateral formats. This includes G7 meetings at the Foreign Minister and leader level; action at the United Nations Security Council and in the OSCE; and a Leaders level meeting of the North Atlantic Council. In all engagements, we have made clear that the UK and the international community stand against Russia's blatant aggression, and for freedom, democracy, and the sovereignty of nations around the world.

Pakistan: Religious Freedom

Fleur Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps the Government is taking on reports of kidnapping and forced conversions of religious minorities in Pakistan.

James Cleverly: The UK strongly condemns forced marriage and the forced conversion of women and girls. In November, Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon, Minister of State for South Asia, spoke at the launch event for the All Party Parliamentary Group for Pakistani Minorities' report, 'Abductions, Forced Conversions, and Forced Marriages of Religious Minority Women and Girls in Pakistan', important research which puts the spotlight on this brutal practice. His speech underlined the UK's commitment to promoting freedom, choice and education for women and girls in Pakistan, as well as the UK's disappointment that draft legislation that would have criminalised forced conversions stalled in Pakistan's Parliament last year.We regularly raise the issue of Freedom of Religion or Belief and women and girls' rights at a senior level with the Government of Pakistan. During his visit to Pakistan on 23 and 24 June 2021, Lord Ahmad met Prime Minister Khan, as well as other senior government ministers, and discussed these issues. He met interfaith leaders to understand the situation of Pakistani minorities, particularly the issue of forced conversion and marriage. Most recently, he discussed the need to promote respect for all religions with Governor of Punjab Chaudhry Mohammad Sarwar on 28 November 2021. The FCDO funds programmes in Pakistan that directly address early and forced marriages and gender-based violence. The UK government has supported the Government of Pakistan in setting up eight child courts to provide child-sensitive justice to children who come in contact with the law, including victims of child abuse, trafficking and child marriage.

Russia: Shipping

Dame Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent estimate her Department has made of the number of Russian flagged ships using British ports.

James Cleverly: The Department for Transport has published statistics on ship arrivals to UK ports for the purpose of loading and unloading cargo and passengers up to 2020. In 2020, there were 160 voyages where cargo was either loaded or unloaded at a UK port by 47 unique Russian flagged vessels.

Russia: Ukraine

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether she discussed (a) the situation in Ukraine and (b) steps to hold the Russian Federation to account in her recent discussions with the Government of India.

James Cleverly: The Foreign Secretary discussed the Russian invasion of Ukraine with Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar on 24 February. During that conversation she reiterated the UK's steadfast commitment to Ukraine's territorial integrity and sovereignty and the need for the international community to confront Russian aggression.

Russia: Sanctions

Dame Margaret Hodge: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how many applications her Department has received to vary or revoke a designation under the Russia (Sanctions) Regulations 2022.

James Cleverly: The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office has not received any requests to vary or revoke a designation made under The Russia (Sanctions) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019.

Ukraine: Ethnic Groups

Bell Ribeiro-Addy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the veracity of reports that Black and Ethnic Minority people fleeing from Ukraine are being denied safe passage and refuge in neighbouring countries; and what steps the Government is taking to support neighbouring countries to ensure safe passage of all people fleeing the conflict in Ukraine.

James Cleverly: The FCDO is aware of reporting of difficulties faced by some Black and Ethnic Minority people seeking to leave to Ukraine. The UK has announced £120 million in emergency aid to help tackle Ukraine's humanitarian crisis. As well as ensuring that Ukrainians have access to basic necessities and medical supplies, this will help countries surrounding Ukraine to receive and support the increasing flow of refugees. A 4-person team of UK humanitarian experts arrived in Poland on 26 February and another is in Moldova to support the regional response, providing logistics advice and analysis of needs on the ground. We will deploy additional experts across the region in the coming days. We also have specially trained consular staff at the Ukrainian borders to help British nationals to leave the country safely.

Russia: Overseas Trade

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to her oral statement of 28 February 2022 on Sanctions, what estimate she has made of the proportion of Russian trade denominated in sterling.

James Cleverly: New legislation was laid in parliament on financial measures. These measures will prevent Russian banks from clearing payments in sterling and will apply to Russia's largest bank - Sberbank. With around 75 percent of Russian trade denominated in dollars, euros or sterling, our coordinated action will damage Russia's ability to trade with the world. On average, the UK financial system clears around £0.4 billion of sterling payments to and from Russian banks daily - equating to £146 billion per annum. Stopping access to sterling will mean Russian banks cannot use UK financial markets, invest in the UK, and pay for trade in Sterling.

Refugees: Afghanistan

Sarah Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 17 January 2022 to Question 102809, whether her Department plans to contact any Afghan citizens who are not British Council or GardaWorld contractors or Chevening Alumni within the first year of the third referral pathway of the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme.

James Cleverly: The framework of the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS) was set out in the oral statement of 6 January. In Year 1 of the ACRS, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office will consider at-risk British Council and GardaWorld contractors and Chevening alumni for resettlement under the third pathway.

Russia: Shipping

Dame Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what her policy is on the use of British ports by Russian-flagged operators.

James Cleverly: New legislation Made and laid on 1 March prohibits Russian ships, and other ships specified by the Secretary of State, from entering ports in the United Kingdom. This legislation confers powers on the Secretary of State and harbour authorities to detain Russian ships or specified ships at ports or anchorages, and confers powers on the Secretary of State to control the movement of Russian ships or specified ships by requiring them to leave or enter specified ports, proceed to a specified place or remain where they are. It also prohibits the registration of ships on the UK Ship Register where they are owned, controlled, chartered or operated by a designated person or persons connected with Russia, or are Russian flagged or registered, or where they are a specified ship.

Afghanistan: Chevening Scholarships Programme

Dr Alan Whitehead: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 24 February 2022 to Question 126521, on Afghanistan: Chevening Scholarships Programme, what steps his Department is taking to support Chevening students from Afghanistan whose biometric residence permits have expired to find secure accommodation and employment in the UK.

James Cleverly: We are aware that there are Chevening scholars from Afghanistan for the academic year 2020-21 whose biometric residence permits have expired. We are working with the Home Office to clarify options for this group to regularise their stay. Hardship funds have been provided to eligible scholars from this cohort this financial year.

Russia: Aviation

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps the Government plans to take in response to the Russian Government's decision to ban UK airlines from operating in Russia and accessing Russian airspace.

James Cleverly: The UK has imposed a restriction on all Russian aircraft (scheduled and private) from our airspace. Our actions were a legitimate and proportionate response to Russian aggression towards Ukraine and its failure to comply with its wider international obligations. DfT and the Civil Aviation Authority are in close contact with the sector to understand and, where possible, address the practical implications of Russia banning UK carriers from their airspace.

Russia: Sanctions

Dame Margaret Hodge: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if she will publish the (a) individuals and (b) firms that (i) she, (ii) her special advisors and (iii) officials in her Department have (A) received correspondence from and (B) met since 10 February 2022 on specific or proposed designations under the Russia (Sanctions) Regulations 2022.

James Cleverly: The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office regularly receives correspondence regarding designation proposals or specific designations under all sanctions regimes. The UK Government has already put in place the largest package of sanctions in our history in response to Russia's unprovoked and illegal invasion of Ukraine. We have sanctioned Putin and Lavrov, Russia's defence industry and a growing list of oligarchs. As the Foreign Secretary said in the House on 28 February, we are targeting oligarchs close to Putin without fear or favour, and we will continue to do so.Lawyers providing legal services to Russian oligarchs and entities that have written to the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office in processed correspondence since 10 February 2022 include BCL Solicitors LLP on behalf of Alisher Usmanov. Representations were also received from Sberbank.

British Overseas Territories: Russia

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps she is taking to mitigate Russian (a) influence in and (b) use of British Overseas Territories which benefit Russian strategic interests.

James Cleverly: The FCDO utilises overseas development assistance funding across Eastern Europe and Central Asia directorate in line with the aid strategy to simultaneously limit the ability of malign state actors, to achieve their strategic interests, while also strengthening the resilience of our partners' institutions and communities, which in turn reduces the risks reaching the UK.

Russia: Ukraine

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps she is taking to engage with Commonwealth nations on the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

James Cleverly: The UK continues to work with our allies and partners, including Commonwealth nations, to make clear to Russia that we will not accept its campaign to subvert its democratic neighbours. We are unwavering in our support to Ukraine and the Prime Minister, Foreign Secretary and Defence Secretary work continuously to engage their counterparts on this issue.

Business: Ukraine

Owen Thompson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps she plans to take to support UK-based businesses with operations in Ukraine that are affected by the Russian invasion of that country.

James Cleverly: UK businesses which trade with Ukraine can access help and support by using the Department for International Trade's Export Support Service (ESS).

Turkey: Kurds

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps she is taking with her international counterparts to help protect the human rights of the Kurdish minority in Turkey.

James Cleverly: We strongly support all minority groups in Turkey and encourage the Turkish authorities to safeguard their welfare and respect their human rights, in line with provisions in the Turkish constitution that protect the rights of all minorities, including Kurds. With our partners, we continue to call on Turkey to act in line with the conventions of the Council of Europe and broader democratic norms, as well as making progress on domestic judicial reforms. We also encourage full implementation of Turkey's 2021 Human Rights Action Plan for the benefit of all its citizens. We keep these issues under regular review.

Baltic States

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment she has made of the risk to residents of the Baltic countries of the conflict in Ukraine; and whether she plans to recommend that British nationals in those countries repatriate.

James Cleverly: The Foreign Secretary is in regular contact with her counterparts, including those from Baltic countries, to evaluate the impact of the conflict in Ukraine across Europe. The UK is also working with NATO Allies to take proportionate measures to strengthen our ability to deter aggression and defend Alliance territory. This includes deploying additional land forces in the eastern part of the Alliance, as well as additional maritime and air assets. The safety and security of British nationals is our priority, and we have a duty of care to our staff. Travel Advice draws on a range of sources, including intelligence assessments, the local knowledge of our embassies abroad posts, information provided by the local authorities in each country, and information gathered by the intelligence services. British nationals should continue to read and follow FCDO Travel Advice.

Russia: Sanctions

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment the Government has made of the extent of potential further economic sanctions against Russia; and for what reason those sanctions have not been implemented to date.

James Cleverly: On 1 March we introduced new legislation in parliament on financial measures, including sovereign debt, clearing and securities measures and trade measures including a ban on dual use items; and a further range of critical tech and industrial goods. This is not the end. We have a rolling programme that will continue to ratchet up the pressure on Russia. We will designate additional companies and members of the elite over the coming weeks and months. The UK's sanctions have been coordinated with international allies to impose a severe cost on Putin and his regime. Sanctions are powerful tools, capable of having a significant impact, and complex to design. We want to ensure we get them right.

Afghanistan: Refugees

Damian Collins: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how many Afghan journalists the UK has evacuated from Afghanistan since 1 August 2021.

James Cleverly: We do not collect comprehensive data on the profession of those relocated, so the following figures are estimates only.The UK will continue to relocate eligible individuals under the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP) and Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS). The ACRS commenced on 6 January and will provide up to 20,000 women, children and others at risk with a safe and legal route to resettle in the UK.

Afghanistan: International Assistance

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps she is taking with her international counterparts to provide civilian aid to Afghanistan.

James Cleverly: In August, the Prime Minister announced that the UK would double its assistance for Afghanistan to £286 million this financial year. This will support over 6.1 million people with life-saving aid. Since April, we have disbursed over £261 million and we are working at pace to allocate the remaining funding. On 31 March, the UK with the UN and Germany will host a pledging conference on Afghanistan to raise funds to scale up essential humanitarian support for the people of Afghanistan.We are working with the international community to ensure a coordinated approach to Afghanistan - through the UN Security Council, the G20 and G7, and our engagement with countries in the region. The UK government continues to work closely with the UN and NGOs to ensure that UK aid benefits Afghans in need. In addition, the UK is playing a leading role in the international efforts to address the causes of the economic crisis in Afghanistan by working with the World Bank, UN and US to find ways for humanitarian agencies to access currency; and supporting the World Bank to unlock existing funds within the Afghanistan Reconstruction Trust Fund to help the Afghan people.

Ukraine: Humanitarian Aid

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what plans her Department has to ensure that humanitarian support is provided to Ukranian people in the event that Russia closes the Ukranian border.

James Cleverly: The UK government has pledged £220 million of aid, which includes £120 million of humanitarian assistance. Our humanitarian support will help partners stand up their response to the deteriorating humanitarian situation, creating a lifeline for Ukrainians with access to basic necessities. HMG will also match-fund the public's first £20 million of donations to the DEC Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal, our largest ever aid-match contribution.

Mali: Peacekeeping Operations

Ms Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential impact on (a) security and (b) the risk of human rights abuses in Mali of (i) the end of UK participation in Operation Barkhane and (ii) any end to UK participation in UN MINUSMA.

Ms Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential impact on (a) security and (b) the risk of human rights abuses in the Sahel of (i) the end of UK participation in Operation Barkhane and (ii) any end to UK participation in UN MINUSMA.

Vicky Ford: The UK currently deploys 300 troops to the UN Peacekeeping Mission MINUSMA. Forming a Long-Range Reconnaissance Group, they support MINUSMA's objectives of helping implement Mali's Peace Agreement and protecting civilians. Separately, we also deploy four Chinook helicopters with around 100 troops providing logistical support to the French counter-terrorism Operation Barkhane. We have been part of Operation BARKHANE since July 2018. As the French mission in Mali concludes, so will the UK's contribution to it. We are reviewing our deployment to MINUSMA. I have expressed concern about the increasing restrictions on UN Peacekeeping and international forces in Mali, and have urged all partners to continue working together to protect and support a better future for the Malian people.

Ukraine: Foreign Nationals

Abena Oppong-Asare: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions she has had with her international counterparts on supporting foreign nationals to leave Ukraine, including individuals from (a) India, (b) Nigeria, and (c) Ghana.

James Cleverly: We are in regular dialogue with our international partners and stand ready to provide humanitarian assistance as needed. As of 2 March, over 1 million people are reported by the UN to have left Ukraine [link https://data2.unhcr.org/en/situations/ukraine]. These numbers will continue to rise while Russia continues this reprehensible and needless attack. The UK government has pledged £220 million of aid, which includes £120 million of humanitarian assistance. Our humanitarian support will help partners stand up their response to the deteriorating humanitarian situation. We have also deployed UK humanitarian experts to support Ukraine's neighbours, who are receiving and supporting the increasing flow of refugees fleeing Ukraine.

Ukraine: Humanitarian Aid

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what humanitarian support the Government is providing to Ukraine; and whether there are any plans to increase this support.

James Cleverly: The UK government has pledged £220 million of aid, which includes £120 million of humanitarian assistance. Our humanitarian support will help partners stand up their response to the deteriorating humanitarian situation, creating a lifeline for Ukrainians with access to basic necessities. HMG will also match-fund the public's first £20 million of donations to the DEC Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal, our largest ever aid-match contribution.

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office: Disability

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 20 January 2022 to Question 103614 on Disability, when the FCDO Disability Inclusion Board is due to meet next.

Vicky Ford: The UK committed in the National Disability Strategy to establish a new FCDO External Disability Board. The first meeting of the Board took place in December 2021 and the next meeting is planned for May 2022.

Central African Republic: Wagner Group

Ms Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of reports that Wagner Group forces in the Central African Republic were responsible for the deaths of a number of civilians in operations near the town of Bria on 16 and 17 January 2022.

Vicky Ford: The UK remains deeply concerned by the destabilising role the Russian mercenary group, Wagner plays in the Central African Republic (CAR) and the wider region. Wagner mercenaries operating in CAR have long been reported as being responsible for multiple breaches of International Humanitarian Law and abuses of human rights including numerous reports of indiscriminate killings of unarmed civilians. On Tuesday 22nd February, at the United Nations Security Council session on the Central African Republic, the United Kingdom called on Government of CAR to effectively coordinate all security actors operating in the country, ensuring that they abide by applicable international humanitarian and human rights law and hold those responsible for violations accountable.

Raising Futures Kenya

Ms Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment she has made of the impact of changes to her Department's spending allocations on vocational training centres run by the charity Raising Futures Kenya in its work helping young Kenyans out of poverty.

Vicky Ford: The FCDO supported Raising Futures Kenya with a £50,000 grant over two years (2020-2021). This supported technical and vocational education and training (TVET) for young people aged 14-25 in Kitui and Murang'a Vocational Education Centres (two of the three vocational education centres run by Raising Futures in Kenya). 540 young people and 184 of their parents/guardians benefitted from skills training and support, with an additional 710 people benefitting indirectly. By December 2021, 100 percent of the first cohort graduates were in employment or running their own business, earning on average 500Ksh (3.28 GBP) per day. 100 percent of graduates improved their technical, business and financial literacy skills and improved mental health and wellbeing. As this was a two year project, there were no impacts from the changes to spending allocations.

Sanctions

Liam Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will set out the (a) number of civil servants and (b) budget devoted to (i) developing targets of individuals and companies for sanctions under the Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act 2018, (ii) designating individuals and companies under that Act; and (iii) implementing enforcement and global application of designations made under that Act in (A) each of the last three years and (B) as at 28 February 2022.

Vicky Ford: The UK Government has already put in place the largest package of sanctions in our history in response to Russia's unprovoked and illegal invasion of Ukraine. We have sanctioned Putin and Lavrov, Russia's defence industry and a growing list of oligarchs. As the Foreign Secretary said in the House on 28 February, we will impose further sanctions on oligarchs and Duma members and the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office has tripled the amount of people in its sanctions department to make that happen.The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office's sanctions department leads on the development of the UK's autonomous sanctions regimes, working closely with other departments across the FCDO as well as officials from other Government departments across Whitehall. Officials in sanctions department work together with officials across the FCDO and other government departments in the development of targets of individuals and companies for sanctions. In 2021 the UK designated 160 individuals and entities across 13 regimes. The Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI), part of HM Treasury, is the authority for the implementation of financial sanctions in the UK.

Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations: Finance

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the Government's role as host of the Pandemic Preparedness Summit in March 2022, if the Government will commit £60 million per year to the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations over the five-year replenishment period to help ensure that replenishment (a) reduces the development of vaccines to 100 days, (b) secures future pandemic preparedness and (b) ensures fair and equitable access to new vaccines; and if the Government will use its position as host to demonstrate global leadership and encourage ambitious pledges.

Amanda Milling: The UK Government is pleased to be hosting the Global Pandemic Preparedness Summit on 7 and 8 March to raise funds to achieve the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations' (CEPI) goal to develop vaccines against new health threats and rapidly scale-up regional manufacturing for affordable global supply. CEPI are crucial to delivering on the G7's ambitious 100 Days Mission, which the UK championed under our G7 Presidency last year: to develop safe and effective vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics within 100 days of a pandemic threat being identified.The Global Pandemic Preparedness Summit will be an important moment to marshal support for vaccine research and development from the international community and to mobilise the resources needed on a global scale to deliver these goals. In support of the replenishment efforts, the UK recently announced our pledge of £160 million towards CEPI's 5-year strategy, building on our long-term support of CEPI - giving £276 million funding since 2018.

British Overseas Territories: Climate Change

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, which Government Department is the policy lead for (a) climate mitigation and (b) climate adaptation in the British Overseas Territories.

Amanda Milling: The Overseas Territories Governments maintain the policy lead for climate mitigation and adaptation in their Territories. In the UK, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy lead on domestic climate mitigation and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs is responsible for domestic climate adaptation. The UK Government is working in partnership with the Overseas Territories to address climate challenges, including through various funds, such as the Darwin Plus, which provides funding for environmental projects and the Blue Belt programme, which protects over 4 million square kilometres of ocean around the Overseas Territories.

British Overseas Territories: Climate Change

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, which British Overseas Territories have fulfilled their commitment under the Joint Ministerial Council Communique 2020 to publish territory-led plans for climate adaptation and mitigation.

Amanda Milling: At the UK-Overseas Territories Joint Ministerial Council in November 2020, each Overseas Territory government committed to endeavour to communicate a territory-led plan for climate change adaptation and mitigation, which contributes towards global carbon emission reductions, by the time of the COP26 Summit in November 2021. Saint Helena, the Falkland Islands, Montserrat and Gibraltar produced their plans and all Overseas Territories remain committed to continuing to communicate their plans and strategies following COP26, including the recently published 'Building a Sustainable Virgin Islands' plan by the British Virgin Islands. The UK Government continue to work closely with the Overseas Territories to address climate change challenges.

Nigeria: Development Aid

Ms Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to UK boosts access to finance for women-owned businesses and clean energy projects in Nigeria, published on 21 February 2022, what data she plans to publish in relation to the impact of the financing facility with First Bank of Nigeria.

Amanda Milling: Half of all adults in Nigeria lack access to finance. The investment of CDC Group - British International Investment (BII) from 4 April - in First Bank of Nigeria aims to address the limited access to capital faced by underbanked groups in the country. This will include directing funding to women-owned and led businesses as well as to local Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs). For investments with a specific gender lens, BII applies the 2X criteria, a global benchmark for what it means to 'invest in women'. Impact data on the financing facility with First Bank of Nigeria will be published in summer 2022, around the same time as the CDC 2021 Annual Review.Information on all of BII's investments is published annually on its website (available https://www.cdcgroup.com/en/our-impact/search-results/). In addition, details of the impact of BII's investments are included in its Annual Review. The latest Annual Review is also available on the CDC website (https://www.cdcgroup.com/en/annual-review-2020/).

Uyghur Tribunal

Mr Alistair Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether the Government declined to provide evidence to the Uyghur Tribunal.

Amanda Milling: We welcome the contribution the panel chaired by Sir Geoffrey Nice has made to building international awareness and understanding of the human rights violations in Xinjiang. The findings add to our serious and well-known concerns about the severity of the human rights violations being perpetrated against Uyghur Muslims and other ethnic minorities in Xinjiang. FCDO Ministers and officials engaged extensively with Sir Geoffrey over the last year to discuss the panel's work. We also followed its work closely, and FCDO officials observed virtually the panel's hearings and concluding session.

Hong Kong: Judiciary

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps she is taking to help support the independence of the judiciary in Hong Kong; and if she will discuss that matter with her international counterparts.

Amanda Milling: The National Security Law poses real questions for the rule of law in Hong Kong and the protection of fundamental rights and freedoms promised by China in the Joint Declaration. Our assessment of Hong Kong's judicial independence is increasingly finely balanced; it is therefore right that it is kept under review. It is essential that both the Hong Kong judiciary and Hong Kong's legal institutions are able to operate independently and free from political interference. The Foreign Secretary is in regular contact with her international counterparts on the issue of Hong Kong.

Uyghurs: Forced Labour

Sarah Champion: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of Professor Laura Murphy’s report on the role of the International Finance Corporation in financing of companies allegedly involved in Uyghur Forced Labour.

Amanda Milling: The UK remains committed to tackling the issue of Uyghur forced labour in global supply chains, working with our international partners. The International Finance Corporation (IFC)'s Performance Standard 2 defines IFC clients' responsibilities for managing labour and working conditions, and precludes the IFC from supporting clients which employ forced labour. People affected by IFC projects can register complaints through the independent Office of the Compliance Advisor Ombudsmen. The UK has been working with the IFC and other development finance institutions to develop stronger safeguards to reduce the risk of forced labour in supply chains.

Somalia: Capital Punishment

Ms Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if she will make representations to (a) the Federal Government of Somalia and (b) the Government of Puntland state in relation to the sentencing of four boys to death on 31 January 2022.

Vicky Ford: The UK is aware of this case and we are coordinating with partners. We engage on this and other human rights issues in Somalia in the manner that we judge most likely to be effective. It is a longstanding policy of the UK Government to oppose the death penalty, in all circumstances, as a matter of principle. We believe that use of the death penalty undermines human dignity. There is no conclusive evidence of its deterrent value, and any miscarriage of justice leading to its imposition is irreversible and irreparable.

Africa: Capital Punishment

Ms Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent discussions she has had with her counterparts in (a) Botswana, (b) Somalia and (c) South Sudan on ending the death penalty.

Vicky Ford: It is the longstanding policy of Her Majesty's Government to oppose the death penalty, in all circumstances, as a matter of principle. We believe that use of the death penalty undermines human dignity. There is no conclusive evidence of its deterrent value, and any miscarriage of justice leading to its imposition is irreversible and irreparable.Somalia and South Sudan remain FCDO human rights priority countries, whom we continue to press for progress on a range of human rights issues and concerns, including the death penalty, reports of extrajudicial killings and sexual violence.In her regular meetings with ministers and officials of the Federal Government of Somalia, our Ambassador to Somalia often discusses fundamental human rights issues, including the death penalty.We have taken a leading role in maintaining scrutiny of the human rights situation in South Sudan and in pushing for improvements, including during the country's Universal Periodic Review at the UN Human Rights Council in January 2022. The UK Chargé d'Affaires in Juba raised our specific concerns on the death penalty with South Sudan's deputy Foreign Minister in September 2021.We continue to call on Botswana to initiate a public debate on its use of the death penalty, as the Government of Botswana agreed in their Universal Periodic Review at the UN Human Rights Council in January 2018. Our High Commissioner in Gaborone issued a joint statement in February 2021, along with her Canadian, Australian and New Zealand counterparts, condemning the use of the death penalty in Botswana.

Ethiopia: Trachoma

Ms Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment she has made of the impact of changes to her Department's spending allocations relating to trachoma on (a) the number of people at risk of avoidable blindness in Ethiopia and (b) gender inequalities in healthcare in Ethiopia.

Vicky Ford: We support the Ethiopian healthcare system through our Sustaining and Accelerating Primary Health in Ethiopia programme. This supports medicine procurement, training of healthcare workers, and healthcare infrastructure. It also provides technical assistance, including to promote greater equity in the healthcare system. The full results of the including comparisons to original targets prior to the programme closure, will be published on the government development tracker (https://devtracker.fcdo.gov.uk) by March 2022.

Africa: Education

Ms Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to Uwezo National Learning Assessment Report 2021, published by Uwezo Uganda in February 2022, what assessment she has made of the implications for her policies on supporting education in Africa following the covid-19 pandemic of the findings that (a) poorer pupils and (b) students starting from a lower educational level experienced significant learning losses as a result of educational disruption linked to covid-19.

Vicky Ford: We are concerned that school closures due to Covid-19 have deepened existing inequalities and added new layers of marginalization and exclusion. Evidence and data, including from Uwezo in Uganda, show that those furthest behind before the crisis - for instance the poorest children and children with lower achievement levels - have been worst affected in terms of school access and learning. Globally, learning loss is reported across all grades, but most drastically in the early years.The UK is committed to improving foundational skills for all as we pursue the G7-agreed global targets of 40 million more girls in school and 20 million more girls reading by age 10 by 2026. To achieve learning at scale, the UK is committed to using and building data and evidence to strengthen education systems and maintain a sharp focus on the most marginalised. For example, in Uganda, this includes supporting the government to open schools safely and to apply the available data and evidence on learning recovery. In addition, the UK is supporting catch-up programmes in reading and maths in Uganda, starting with 350,000 lower primary children who have been out of school for two years.

Israel: Palestinians

Fleur Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether discussions she has had with her international counterparts on the administrative detention of Palestinian people by Israel.

Amanda Milling: We continue to call on the Israeli authorities to comply with their obligations under international law and either charge or release detainees. We do this regularly, both bilaterally and in co-operation with like-minded diplomatic partners.

China: Extradition

Fleur Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to help protect Taiwanese citizens living outside of Taiwan from possible extradition to China.

Amanda Milling: The UK does not have an extradition treaty with either China or Taiwan, but extraditions can be requested on a case-by-case basis by both. UK courts determine whether extradition would infringe upon an individual's human rights, and extradition from the UK is barred if the court finds that the prosecution is politically motivated. We are unable to comment on what the judicial system of another state might decide to do in such a case.

Multinational Companies: Human Rights

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps she is taking to help ensure good human rights practice within multinational companies.

Vicky Ford: The Government is clear that it expects all UK businesses to respect human rights throughout their operations, in line with the UN Guiding Principles.  The UK was the first State to produce a National Action Plan and we continue to develop our approach in line with Modern Slavery Act 2015.  In January 2021, the UK Government announced that financial penalties will be introduced for organisations who fail to meet their statutory obligations to publish annual modern slavery statements. We have also enhanced Companies Act reporting (2013, 2016).The UK is signatory to the 1976 OECD Declaration on International Investment and Multi-National Enterprises, which adopted the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises (the Guidelines). The Guidelines are a set of voluntary principles and standards for businesses to encourage responsible business practices, including human rights, labour standards and environment. The UK operates a National Contact Point (UK NCP) to promote the Guidelines and to run a non-judicial grievance mechanism to assess alleged non-compliance with the Guidelines. It also offers a platform for mediation and conciliation. The complaints mechanism can include the examination of instances where abuses of human rights may have occurred. The UK NCP also represents the UK at the OECD Working Party on Responsible Businesses Conduct.

Ministry of Defence

Belarus: Ukraine

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of whether Belarusian special forces previously trained by the UK are active in the conflict in Ukraine.

James Heappey: The UK suspended its Defence Engagement programme with Belarus in August 2020. We have seen nothing to corroborate claims that Belarusian troops have entered Ukraine.

Ministry of Defence: Training

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many civilian staff employed in his Department have received information security training each year since 2010.

Leo Docherty: All Ministry of Defence (MOD) personnel are required to undertake initial and refresher information security training to ensure they can recognise threats to security and can respond appropriately. This consists of the Defence Information Management Passport online course, which must be retaken every three years, and annual attendance at a General Security Threat Brief (this covers all elements of protective security and includes information and cyber security).In the period 1 February 2021 (when Version six was introduced) to 1 March 2022, a total of 19,307 MOD civilian staff completed or refreshed their DIMP in accordance with the three-yearly cycle. Longer term training records will be held locally by business areas. General Security Threat Briefs are delivered locally, and no data regarding attendance is held centrally. In both cases, collating this information would involve going out to all sites across MOD, and this would incur disproportionate cost.As well as mandatory information security training, the MOD has a Cyber Awareness, Behaviours, Skills and Culture Programme that is targeted at all-staff and continually seeks to enhance their cyber security behaviours, both at home and at work; this is supported by novel and engaging awareness campaigns under the 'Cyber Confident' header.

National Flagship

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, for what reasons the costs of the National Flagship were excluded from the Defence and Equipment Plan 2021-31.

Mr Ben Wallace: The Prime Minister announced the construction of the new National Flagship on 30 May 2021. This was not included in our costings in April 2021; therefore, it does not appear in the Defence and Equipment Plan 2021-31.

Ministry of Defence: Coronavirus

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will take steps to ensure that his Department and its agencies remove all internal covid-19 related policies, restrictions and mask mandates.

James Heappey: Throughout the pandemic, the Ministry of Defence has aligned itself with the Government's COVID-19 policies in addition to managing the risks from communicable diseases and viruses as set out in Joint Service Publication 950 on Medical Policy. This has included complying with the Working Safely during Coronavirus (COVID-19): Guidance which sets out the key actions organisations should take to protect employees in order to reduce the risk of COVID-19 spreading in workplaces.While COVID-19 regulations are being eased across England and much of the UK, certain risks from COVID-19 remain and consequently it will be appropriate to continue to monitor the situation and to maintain some public health, force protection and health and safety measures in certain settings. For instance, testing and isolation may continue in limited scenarios, such as to enable the operational deployment of personnel overseas. COVID-related measures will continue to be reviewed periodically and rationalised when it is safe to do so, whilst managing the risks to personnel and key Defence outputs.

Ukraine: Emigration

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking with his NATO counterparts to ensure routes out of the Ukraine remain safe and open.

James Heappey: Where routes are available they will be secured by Ukraine. NATO and individual Allies are helping the armed forces of Ukraine by stepping up assistance with air-defence, anti-tank weapons as well as humanitarian and financial aid. NATO cannot guarantee routes out of Ukraine because the Alliance does not intend to deploy troops to Ukraine.

Joint Strike Fighter Aircraft: Procurement

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many F-35b aircraft his Department plans to procure.

Jeremy Quin: Final plans remain subject to negotiation. On this basis I refer the right hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Islwyn (Chris Evans) to Question 86564 dated 9 December 2021.Question 86564 (docx, 17.6KB)

Armed Forces

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of each armed forces service reporting their accounts and forecasting to the National Audit Office through a standardised methodology.

Jeremy Quin: In 2012 the Secretary of State for Defence invited the National Audit Office to review the department's Equipment Plan for the first time. We have published a report in parallel with an NAO investigation, in each year since, to provide Parliament and the public with information about the Defence programme. This includes a summary of the Equipment Plan of each Front Line Command presented in a standardised format. As part of their annual investigation, the NAO speak to each of the Front Line Commands and review their financial position. All Front Line Commands use the same financial management system and report their financial position using a consistent methodology. The department's operating model delegates routine financial management to its Top Level Budget areas, in line with the outcome of the 2011 Levene Report.

European Fighter Aircraft: Radar

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to page 18 of the National Audit Office's report, The Equipment Plan 2021 to 2031, published on 21 February 2022, for what reason the decision was taken to exclude costs associated with the radar upgrade for Typhoon in the previous report.

Jeremy Quin: This year's report shows a plan to balance costs and budget after a number of years in which the Department has reported a shortfall. Last year we reported that the Department faced a £7.3 billion shortfall. The shortfall meant that a number of important capabilities were not affordable within the Defence programme. The Integrated Review and the £16.5 billion increase in funding from the 2020 Spending Review have allowed the Department to address the shortfall and add equipment to the programme, including the radar upgrade. This addresses one of the key capability risks the NAO discussed in their previous 2020 report. The MOD's 2021 equipment plan shows a breakdown of these measures.

Future Combat Air System

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to page 18 of the National Audit Office's report, The Equipment Plan 2021 to 2031, published on 21 February 2022, for what reason the decision was taken to exclude costs associated with the Future Combat Air System in the previous report.

Jeremy Quin: Last year we reported that the department faced a £7.3 billion shortfall. The shortfall meant that a number of important capabilities were not affordable within the Defence programme. Future Combat Air System (FCAS) is an early stage programme and in the previous 2020 report only the initial technology initiative was funded. The Integrated Review and the £16.5 billion increase in funding from the 2020 Spending Review have allowed the department to address the shortfall and add equipment to the programme, including the next phase of the FCAS programme. This addresses one of the key capability risks the NAO discussed in their previous 2020 report and the MOD's 2021 equipment plan shows a breakdown of these measures.

Joint Strike Fighter Aircraft: Repairs and Maintenance

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether the length of time taken to construct support facilities for F-35b, as outlined the Defence and Equipment Plan, is connected with the Air Signature Assessment Facility.

Jeremy Quin: No.

Chinook Helicopters

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 3 February 2022 to Question 114659 on Ministry of Defence: Assets, whether the Chinook Mk4 listed relates to the retirement of a single aircraft.

Jeremy Quin: The value attributed in the notification (£20.040 million ) reflects the residual balance sheet value of five Chinooks at their new retirement dates.

LE TacCIS Programme

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, for what reason the costs of the Morpheus programme were excluded from the Equipment Plan.

Jeremy Quin: The costs of Morpheus programme are included in the equipment plan. The NAO's recent equipment plan reporthighlights that the funding included in the 2021 equipment plan is less than cost modelling produced by the delivery agent based on earlier assumptions about the programme.

Artillery: Ammunition

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he plans to introduce 59 calibre ammunition for the UK's AS90 artillery.

Jeremy Quin: There are no plans to introduce 59 calibre ammunition for AS90.

Artillery

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many UK troops have fired AS90 in the past five years.

Jeremy Quin: It is not possible to accurately confirm how many soldiers have been involved in firing AS90 in the last five years. The UK has two AS90 Regiments and a training Battery that conduct annual live firing as part of their annual certification.

Shipbuilding

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, on what date he plans to publish the refreshed National Shipbuilding Strategy.

Jeremy Quin: The National Shipbuilding Strategy Refresh will be published shortly.

Rosyth Dockyard: Housing

Mr Nicholas Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will make a comparative assessment of the provision of free accommodation to (a) British and (b) non-British nationals employed at Rosyth Naval Yard.

Leo Docherty: Rosyth Naval Yard was sold by the Ministry of Defence (MOD) to Babcock International in 1997. Therefore, it would be inappropriate for the MOD to comment on the provision of accommodation at this location as the current use of the site is a matter for Babcock International.

Ministry of Defence: Training

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he has taken to improve information security training within his Department.

Leo Docherty: All Ministry of Defence (MOD) personnel are required to undertake initial and refresher information security training to ensure they can recognise threats to security and can respond appropriately. This consists of the Defence Information Management Passport online course, which must be retaken every three years, and annual attendance at a General Security Threat Brief (this covers all elements of protective security and includes information and cyber security).Additionally, a core part of our defensive Cyber Strategy and Plan includes a major all-staff Cyber Awareness, Behaviours, Skills and Culture Programme designed to ensure that all MOD personnel are able to understand what they need to do to work effectively and in a secure way in the modern context, both at home and at work. This is achieved through directed interventions targeting specific risky behaviours, supported by novel and engaging awareness campaigns under the 'Cyber Confident' header, which are designed to increase motivation to act.

Merchant Shipping: Pensions

Matt Rodda: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 28 June 2021 to Question 18563 on Merchant Navy Officers Pension Fund, what estimate he has made of the potential future cost to the public purse in the (a) short term and (b) long term in relation to the Royal Fleet Auxiliary’s role as a sponsoring employer of the Merchant Navy Ratings Pension Fund scheme.

Leo Docherty: The Royal Navy is a participating employer for the Merchant Navy Pension Fund for Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) personnel who were members of this scheme prior to the RFA transitioning to the main Civil Service Pension Scheme. The fund closed to new members on 31 May 2001 and is in the process of running down.

Department for Work and Pensions

Industrial Accidents

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many incidents of serious harm have been reported to her Department since February 2012; what proportion of those incidents met the criteria to trigger an internal process review; and if she will provide a breakdown of the different categories of serious harm.

Chloe Smith: Internal Process Reviews (IPRs) are internal retrospective investigations, focussed on organisational learning and were started in 2015. The Department began capturing data on ‘Serious Harm’ at this point as well. Due to record keeping practices at that time, we do not have records of review categories prior to 2015. IPRs are conducted when:there is a suggestion or allegation that the Department’s actions or omissions may have negatively contributed to the customer’s circumstances, or cases in which the department may be able to learn about the operation of its processes, AND a customer has suffered serious harm, has died (including by suicide), or where we have reason to believe there has been an attempted suicide.the Department is asked to participate in an external Safeguarding Adults Board or is named as an Interested Party at an Inquest. An Internal Process Review will be conducted - regardless of whether there is an allegation against the Department.  There have been 61 IPRs triggered since 2015 that involved serious harm. This figure is broken down into the following review sub-categories: 2015 to dateNumber of IPRs TriggeredAttempted Suicide16Self-Harm22Serious Harm15Other8

Government: Procurement

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 17 January 2022 to Question 105664 on Government: Procurement, whether the first meeting of the Disability Commissioning Taskforce took place on 26 January 2022 as planned; if she will publish the minutes of the first meeting; and when the taskforce is due to meet next.

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 17th January 2022 to Question 105664 on Government: Procurement, whether the first meeting of the Disability Commissioning Taskforce took place on 26th January 2022 as planned; whether she plans to publish the minutes of the first meeting; and when the taskforce is due to meet next.

Chloe Smith: The first meeting of the Disability Commissioning Taskforce took place on 26 January 2022 as planned. The Taskforce is due to meet again in late March. No decision has been made on publishing the minutes.

Personal Independence Payment: Appeals

Tony Lloyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what provisions her Department has made for monies to fund tribunal cases involving applicants appealing against the refusal of Personal Independent Payments.

Chloe Smith: The information requested is not collated centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Department for Work and Pensions: Personal Records

Wendy Chamberlain: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many complaints in the year 2021 were investigated by her Department in which phone records had been deleted.

Wendy Chamberlain: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of the cost to the public purse of her Department investigating complaints where phone records have been deleted.

Guy Opperman: The information requested could only be provided at disproportionate cost to the department. The Data Protection Act (DPA) and General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) requires that personal data is not kept longer than is necessary. If records have been deleted in accordance with our retention policy, we can still consider the complaint, and make a decision on a balance of probabilities. The retention policy for complaints is designed to ensure that any records which are available at the outset, are retained throughout the life of the complaint.

Department for Work and Pensions: Personal Records

Wendy Chamberlain: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to her Department's policy on managing customer records, if she will publish her Department's guidance on what triggers a departmental issue for the purposes of records being retained.

Guy Opperman: DWP’s Information Management Policy and Managing Customer Records guidance is publicly available on the GOV.UK website. The internal version of this policy additionally sets out how changes to the Policy, including retention, can be requested by business areas should they identify that this is necessary.

Department for Work and Pensions: Personal Records

Wendy Chamberlain: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will publish cost assessments made by her Department in relation to its customer record retention policy.

Guy Opperman: There are no specific cost assessments in relation to this policy.

Social Security Benefits: Medical Examinations

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, at what point in the customer journey for the work capability assessment and personal independence payment assessment are disabled and seriously unwell people contacted by the assessor company for their survey of people’s satisfaction.

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 21 January 2022 to Question 103610 on the satisfaction ratings for disability benefit assessments, how frequently her Department receives a full breakdown of answers to each of the questions Atos, Capita and Maximus pose in their customer satisfaction surveys.

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 21 January 2022 to Question 103610 on the satisfaction ratings for disability benefit assessments, whether her Department has ever requested an independent audit of the satisfaction surveys of disabled people’s experiences carried out by Atos, Capita and Maximus.

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 21 January 2022 to Question 103610 on the satisfaction ratings for disability benefit assessments, what customer satisfaction targets (a) Atos, (b) Capita and (c) Maximus are required to meet in their respective contracts for personal independence payment assessments and work capability assessments.

Chloe Smith: The customer satisfaction target for the Personal Independence Payment (PIP) assessment providers, Independent Assessment Services (IAS) and Capita, is 90%. The customer satisfaction target for the Work Capability Assessment (WCA) assessment provider Centre for Health and Disability Assessments (CHDA), is 92%. A full breakdown of answers to each question is available upon request from IAS and Capita. For CHDA, a full breakdown is provided on a quarterly basis. The department reviews, in detail, the responses to the questions which contribute to the score against the customer satisfaction target. The department has not requested an independent audit of the providers’ customer satisfaction surveys. This has not been considered necessary given that the IAS, Capita and CHDA surveys are undertaken by independent third parties in line with the requirements of their individual contracts. The third parties conducting the surveys endeavour to contact PIP and WCA customers shortly after their assessment but before a decision has been made on their claim by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). This enables their satisfaction with the assessment experience to be measured before benefit entitlement decisions.

Social Security Benefits: Medical Examinations

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 21 January 2022 to Question 103610 on the satisfaction ratings for disability benefit assessments, if she will ask Atos to provide a detailed breakdown of the responses of disabled people to questions 11, 12, 13 and 18 on their view of the assessor’s knowledge of their case, their condition and that they were given time to explain how their disability or condition affects their everyday life.

Chloe Smith: In relation to PQ103610, the breakdown of customer responses to questions 11, 12, 13 and 18 of the Independent Assessment Services (IAS) customer claimant satisfaction survey for February 2020 is provided below.  Very SatisfiedSatisfiedDissatisfiedVery DissatisfiedDon’t Know/ N/A11. that the health professional was familiar with and understood your case details?12%63%6%1%19%12. that the health professional understood the way that your condition or disability affects your daily life?10%60%6%1%23%13. that you had enough time and opportunities to explain your disability or condition and how it affects your day-to-day life – including on good and bad days, and at different points during the day?18%70%10%1%2%18. How satisfied were you with the overall service provided by Independent Assessment Services?31%62%6%1%0%Please note:  All of the above data is derived from contractual management information produced by the assessment providers.Total of % may equal more than 100% due to rounding.The above data is derived from unpublished management information which is collected for internal departmental use only and has not been quality assured to Official Statistics Publication standards.

Social Security Benefits: Medical Examinations

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 21 January 2022 to Question 103610, if she will ask Capita to provide a detailed breakdown of the responses of disabled people to questions 10 and 11 in its survey about whether they were satisfied the assessor gave them time to explain how their condition affects their daily life, and whether they listened to their answers.

Chloe Smith: In relation to PQ103610, the breakdown of customer responses to questions 10 and 11 of the Capita customer claimant satisfaction survey for February 2020 is provided below.  Very SatisfiedSatisfiedDissatisfiedVery DissatisfiedDon’t Know/ N/A10. How satisfied were you with the time you had to explain your conditions and the impact on your abilities to carry out daily tasks?48%48%3%0%1%11. How satisfied were you that the disability assessor listened to you throughout the assessment and allowed you to explain how your disability affects your daily life?48%50%1%0%1% Please note:  All of the above data is derived from contractual management information produced by the assessment providers.Total of % may equal more than 100% due to rounding.The above data is derived from unpublished management information which is collected for internal departmental use only and has not been quality assured to Official Statistics Publication standards.

Social Security Benefits: Medical Examinations

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 21 January 2022 to Question 103610, if she will ask Maximus UK (Health Assessment Advisory Service Ltd) to provide a detailed breakdown of the responses of disabled people to the seven questions in section 5 of its survey on the satisfaction ratings for disability benefit assessments.

Chloe Smith: In relation to PQ103610, the full breakdown of customer responses to section 5 for the period December 2019 - February 2020 is provided below. Thinking about the healthcare professional who carried out your assessment… Very GoodQuite GoodQuite PoorVery Poorn/aHow would you rate how well the healthcare professional explained the purpose of the assessment?14%77%3%0%6%How would you rate them for courtesy and politeness?72%27%1%0%0%… and for professionalism?72%27%1%0%0%… and for gentleness of the assessment?22%76%1%0%0%How would you rate the healthcare professional in terms of listening and giving you adequate time to explain how your condition affects you in completing everyday tasks?44%51%5%0%0%… in ensuring you had the opportunity to explain how your ability to undertake everyday tasks may vary from day to day?45%51%3%0%0%… in terms of understanding your health condition or disability?25%70%5%0%0%

Access to Work Programme

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many applications for Access to Work grants are awaiting a decision.

Chloe Smith: I refer the Hon. Member/ Rt Hon. Member to my response to parliamentary question UIN 127254, on 28th February 2022.

Access to Work Programme

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many applications for Access to Work grants have been decided in each of the last four weeks.

Chloe Smith: I refer the Hon. Member/ Rt Hon. Member to my response to parliamentary question UIN 131034 on 28th February 2022.

Pensions: Menopause

Sir Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of the extent of the potential impact on pensions of women with menopause symptoms retiring early.

Guy Opperman: No such assessment has been made.

Access to Work Programme

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average length of time is for which Access to Work grant applications have been awaiting a decision; what proportion of those applications have been waiting for a decision for longer than six weeks; and what the longest time is for which such an application has been awaiting a decision.

Chloe Smith: I refer the Hon. Member/ Rt Hon. Member to my response to parliamentary question UIN 127255, on 1st March 2022.

Coronavirus: Industrial Health and Safety

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what guidance her Department is issuing to employers to support their immunocompromised staff to work safely from their place of work after the existing covid-19 infection control measures are lifted.

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what guidance her Department plans to issue to employers to support their immunocompromised staff to work safely from their place of work after the existing covid-19 infection control measures are lifted.

Chloe Smith: The Department of Health and Social Care have the lead and alongside UK Health Security Agency released guidance on COVID-19: guidance for people whose immune system means they are at higher risk . This was most recently updated on 25 February 2022. In order to assist employers, the Health and Safety Executive provides a link to this guidance on its website.

State Retirement Pensions

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman asked for further information on the ongoing case regarding communication of changes to state pensions; when her Department was asked to supply additional information; on what date her Department plans to submit that information; and if she will make a statement.

Guy Opperman: It would not be appropriate to comment whilst the investigation is ongoing; and section 7(2) of the Parliamentary Commissioner Act 1967 states that Ombudsman investigations “shall be conducted in private”.

Pensioners: Electronic Government

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the number of times that the online pensioner toolkit was accessed in each of the last six years.

Guy Opperman: The Pension Credit toolkit is an on-line tool aimed at agencies and welfare rights organisations to help them encourage Pension Credit take-up. The toolkit contains resources for anyone working with pensioners and includes guides to Pension Credit. It also contains publicity material and guidance designed to help older people understand how they could get Pension Credit and help organisations support someone applying for Pension Credit as well as ideas for encouraging take-up. The toolkit also provides links to information about disability and carers benefits. The specific information requested around the number of times the toolkit was accessed is not available. Since December 2019, citizens have the ability to opt-in to use performance cookies on GOV.UK and therefore DWP only sees data from the sample of those who accept these cookies. This means that we cannot use the data available to accurately reflect the total number of visits to the Pension’s toolkit The data collected is primarily used for identifying trends in how citizens use and move within DWP content on the Gov.uk site.

Pension Credit

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to reduce the time between the annual publication of pension credit take-up statistics and the year those statistics refer to.

Guy Opperman: The DWP publishes annual take-up statistics for income-related benefits, including Pension Credit (PC). These are produced from two data sources: firstly, administrative data covering people receiving PC. And secondly, survey data, from the Family Resources Survey (FRS) which is collected over the financial year. The data then goes through a thorough quality assurance process, followed by data matching to admin data. The survey data is then modelled using a static microsimulation model known as the Policy Simulation Model (PSM) which allows estimates of the population and unclaimed amounts for those who are entitled but not receiving (ENRs). Therefore, this process takes several months after the data has been collected.

Pension Credit

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people made a successful pension credit claim in 2019-20.

Guy Opperman: The most recent data was published on 24 February 2022:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/income-related-benefits-estimates-of-take-up-financial-year-2019-to-2020/income-related-benefits-estimates-of-take-up-financial-year-2019-to-2020

Pension Credit

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to (a) make automatic pension credit payments to people who are eligible and (b) improve data sharing between government bodies involved in the administration of those payments.

Guy Opperman: For a means-tested benefit, such as Pension Credit, eligibility and award amounts are determined by a claimant’s specific circumstances – including their income, savings, capital assets, marital status or household composition. These details are not necessarily always previously known to government. Given this complexity in the decision-making process, it is not possible to make automatic Pension Credit payments to those who might be entitled with sufficient accuracy. Government departments do share data to support the effective and accurate administration of DWP benefits, including Pension Credit.

Workplace Pensions: Public Sector

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the scale of pension deficits for (a) Royal Mail, (b) universities and (c) other large pension schemes where workers provide a public service; and what steps she is taking to ensure that those pension schemes remain viable.

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will take steps to encourage early re-evaluations of pension schemes in response to rising inflation and rising costs of living.

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to ensure that the Pensions Regulator effectively balances risks in respect of the viability of pension schemes, including benefits, scheme member priorities and tackling historic deficits.

Guy Opperman: The Department does not assess the funding of individual defined benefit pension schemes. Trustees are required to undertake actuarial valuations at least every three years and agree an appropriate recovery plan where there is a funding deficit. Trustees can undertake valuations more frequently to assess a scheme’s funding position in the light of economic changes. The UK has a robust regime for the funding of defined benefit pension schemes, which effectively balances member security and employer affordability. Provisions in the Pensions Act 2021 will strengthen this regime by requiring trustees to have a funding and investment strategy to ensure pensions can be provided over the long term. The Pensions Regulator oversees the funding regime for defined benefit pension schemes and has statutory objectives to protect members’ benefits, and to minimise any adverse impact on the sustainable growth of the employer.

Household Support Fund

Munira Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of extending the Household Support Fund beyond March 2022 in response to forecasts that inflation will peak in April 2022.

David Rutley: The Household Support Fund covers the period 6 October 2021 to 31 March 2022 inclusive. Other support for those on low incomes will continue to be available after this point. For example, we have increased the value of Healthy Start Food Vouchers to £4.25, helping eligible low-income households buy basic foods like milk, fruit and vitamins. In Scotland, similar support is provided through Best Start Foods. We are investing over £200m a year from 2022 to continue our Holiday Activities and Food programme which is already providing enriching activities and healthy meals to children in all English Local Authorities. The Government is providing £12 billion of support to ease cost of living pressures, with help targeted at working families, low-income households and the most vulnerable. A further £9 billion has been announced to protect against the impact of rising global energy prices.

Social Security Benefits: Uprating

Peter Dowd: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the potential effect of not uprating benefits in line with inflation on levels of child poverty in Bootle constituency.

Tonia Antoniazzi: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the potential effect of not uprating benefits in line with inflation on levels of child poverty in Gower.

David Rutley: No such assessment has been made. The Government is up-rating benefits in line with inflation. The Secretary of State undertakes an annual review of benefits and pensions with reference to the Consumer Prices Index (CPI). All benefit up-rating since April 1987 has been based on the increase in the relevant price inflation index in the 12 months to the previous September. The relevant benefits are increasing by 3.1% from April. The latest statistics on the number and proportion of children who are in low income families by local area, covering the six years, 2014/15 to 2019/20, can be found in the annual publication: Children in low income families: local area statistics 2014 to 2020 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)(opens in a new tab). This Government is committed to reducing poverty and supporting low-income families, and believes work is the best route out of poverty. Our approach is based on clear evidence about the importance of parental employment – particularly where it is full-time – in substantially reducing the risks of child poverty and in improving long-term outcomes for families and children.

Universal Credit: Deductions

Wendy Chamberlain: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many households are facing deductions to their universal credit award as a result of debts owed to the public purse.

David Rutley: Advances are not Government debt. They are a claimant’s benefit entitlement paid early, allowing claimants to access 100% of their estimated Universal Credit payment upfront. They ensure nobody has to wait for a Universal Credit payment, and those who need it are able to receive financial support as soon as possible. Claimants can receive up to 100% of their estimated Universal Credit award if required, resulting in 25 payments over a 24-month period. For Universal Credit claims with a payment due during November 2021:1,032,000 (22% of all claims) had a deduction towards a Government debt1,296,000 (27% of all claims) had a deduction towards the repayment of an Advance. Notes:1) Claims may have a deduction for both advance repayments and Government debt.2) All volumes are rounded to the nearest thousand and percentages rounded to nearest percent.3) Government debt includes: DWP Benefit Overpayment (fraud and non-fraud), Tax Credit Overpayment (fraud and non-fraud), Housing Benefit Overpayment (fraud and non-fraud), Social Fund Loan, Recoverable Hardship Payment, Administrative Penalty, Civil Penalty, Eligible Loan Deductions, Integration Loan.4) Figures are provisional and are subject to retrospective change as later data becomes available.5) Number of claims rounded to the nearest 1,000 and percentage rounded to nearest percent.6) Data for November 2021 has been provided in line with the latest available UC Household Statistics

Personal Independence Payment: Appeals

Tony Lloyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many personal independence payment (PIP) claimants (a) were refused PIP, (b) appealed against the refusal of PIP and (c) were successful in appealing against the refusal of PIP in each of the last five financial years.

Chloe Smith: The number of Personal Independence Payment (PIP) claims disallowed at initial decision is available on Stat-Xplore: https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/. In particular, you may be interested in the ‘PIP Clearances’ table, which, under ‘Clearance Type Detail,’ contains the breakdown of PIP claims awarded and disallowed at initial decision. Guidance on how to use Stat-Xplore can be found here: https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/index.html. PIP dispute customer journey statistics are available for new PIP applications as part of the PIP Official Statistics quarterly release. The latest release is available here:Personal Independence Payment statistics to October 2021 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) In the accompanying tables Table 5D shows the disputes journey for those who receive a disallowance at initial decision, for each financial year, including the number lodging an appeal and how many receive each appeal outcome. Note that these appeal numbers may include some decisions which were changed at the Mandatory Reconsideration (MR) stage (MR data also shown in Table 5D). Additionally, Table 5A shows appeal figures separately for awards changed and unchanged at MR following an initial disallowance decision, though this table does not show data by financial years. Note that these figures include only decisions following a PIP assessment or evaluation so exclude claims which end before this, such as where there is a failure to return required paperwork or attend an assessment, or withdrawals / relinquishments.

Universal Credit: Deductions

Wendy Chamberlain: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many universal credit claims in each parliamentary constituency had sums deducted from their claim in the most recent month for which data is available; what the (a) average and (b) total sums deducted in each constituency were; and what proportion of deductions were to repay an advance payment or historic tax credit debt.

Chris Stephens: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many universal credit claims were having deductions taken from them in the most recent month for which data are available, in each parliamentary constituency; what was the average size of sums deducted in each constituency; what the total sum was deducted from claims in each constituency; and what proportion of each sum was deducted to repay advance payments.

David Rutley: The Government recognises the importance of supporting the welfare of claimants who have incurred debt. We seek to balance recovery of debt against not causing hardship for claimants and their families. Processes are in place to ensure deductions are manageable, and customers can contact DWP Debt Management if they are experiencing financial hardship, to discuss a reduction in their rate of repayment or a temporary suspension, depending on their financial circumstances. Since April 2021, we have reduced the normal maximum rate of deductions in Universal Credit from 40% to 25% of a claimant’s Standard Allowance. These positive measures were put in place to support claimants to manage financial difficulties Advances are a claimant’s benefit entitlement paid early, allowing claimants to access 100% of their estimated Universal Credit payment upfront. They ensure nobody has to wait for a payment in Universal Credit and those who need it are able to receive financial support as soon as possible. Claimants can receive up to 100% of their estimated Universal Credit award if required, resulting in 25 payments over a 24-month period. This is not a debt. The requested analysis of Universal Credit claims with a payment due in November 2021 by Parliamentary Constituency in Great Britain (GB) is provided in the separate spreadsheet.UC Claims Table (xlsx, 104.0KB)

Coronavirus: Screening

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, in light of her decision to end the free provision of covid-19 lateral flow tests, what support she will provide to employers to help ensure that they can fulfil their obligations under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and Employment Rights Act 1996 in relation to covid-19.

Chloe Smith: When the Government’s Working Safely guidance (produced by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy) is withdrawn on 31st March, HSE’s focus will once again be on the risks at work that are directly created by the work activity. HSE will no longer require every business to consider COVID-19 in their risk assessment or have COVID-19 control measures in place. However, those who specifically work with COVID-19, for example laboratories and infectious diseases wards, must still undertake a risk assessment under the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 and implement control measures. Under the Employment Rights Act 1996 employers should consider how their approach to managing workers with COVID-19 fits with other obligations to both workers and customers, such as those arising from their contractual arrangements, the law on employment rights, health and safety, data protection and equalities. Until 31 March the Working Safely guidance continues to provide advice on sensible precautions employers can take to manage risk and support their staff and customers. COVID-19 remains a public health infection control issue – from 1 April new public health guidance will provide ‘best practice’ on the behaviours businesses can adopt.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Agriculture and Land Use: Sustainable Development

Alicia Kearns: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, for what reason landowners and farmers are no longer compensated for allowing permissive access to their land under the sustainable farming initiative; and whether he has plans to offer payments under a different initiative.

Rebecca Pow: As set out in the 25 Year Environment Plan, the Government is a great supporter of the health and wellbeing benefits that access to the countryside can bring.Support for increasing access into the countryside will be made through existing schemes and support mechanisms already in place, such as Countryside Stewardship which saw a 40% increase in uptake last year. We are still considering our approach to support for increasing and maintaining access to the countryside in our future schemes, including our environmental land management schemes.To boost investment in the meantime, we have launched a new Farming in Protected Landscapes programme in National Parks and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty - this includes funding for farmers and land managers to provide more opportunities for people to explore, enjoy and understand the countryside.

Poultry: Animal Welfare

Thangam Debbonaire: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment the Government has made of the potential merits of banning the caging of commercially reared egg-laying hens.

Jo Churchill: The Government shares the public's high regard for animal welfare. We are delivering a series of ambitious reforms, as outlined in the Action Plan for Animal Welfare. We are actively exploring options for improving the welfare of farm animals and are considering the case for introducing further reforms, in areas such as the use of cages for laying hens.In coming to an assessment of the potential merits of banning cages for laying hens we will wish to consult all interested organisations.

Cats: Smuggling

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to his Department's consultation on Commercial and Non-Commercial Movements of Pets into Great Britain opened in August 2021, what assessment he has made of the potential effect on smuggling cats and kittens of the proposed (a) protections and (b) exclusions.

Jo Churchill: The Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) Bill was introduced in Parliament on 8 June and is progressing through Parliament. The Bill includes powers to introduce new restrictions on pet travel and on the commercial import of pets on welfare grounds, via secondary legislation. In August 2021, the Government launched an 8-week consultation on our proposed restrictions to the commercial and non-commercial movement of pets into Great Britain. The consultation proposed to maintain the existing requirements for cats. This is because there is currently limited evidence that there is a significant illegal trade in cats or significant numbers of low welfare movements. The number of non-compliant cats seized at the border is much lower than for dogs, for example, in 2020 we seized and detained 17 kittens (under 15 weeks) compared to 543 puppies. The consultation sought views on whether maintaining the existing requirements in relation to cats was the right approach. We are currently analysing the responses to the consultation and will publish a summary in due course. This will allow us to take on board the views of the public and interested groups in order to shape our future policy. We will continue to work closely with stakeholders prior to the introduction of the legislation, to ensure that our final measures are well considered and led by the latest evidence.

Environment Protection

Dan Carden: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he plans to take to help ensure the UK becomes nature positive by 2030.

Rebecca Pow: This is a devolved matter and therefore the information provided relates to England only. This Government has set a world leading target to halt the decline in species abundance by 2030, which represents our commitment to leave the environment in a better state than we found it. Measures set out in the Environment Act, such as Biodiversity Net Gain, Local Nature Recovery Strategies, Conservation Covenants and a strengthened biodiversity duty on public authorities, will drive action towards our targets and objectives, alongside wider action and investment. Our forthcoming Nature Recovery Green Paper will set out proposals to better enable us to recover nature and achieve our goal to protect 30% of our land and sea for nature by 2030. We are establishing a Nature Recovery Network which will support the Government's goals of halting biodiversity loss by improving and connecting habitats and species. In establishing the Network we will also provide wider benefits, such as landscapes more resilient to climate change through improved ecosystem function, natural solutions that reduce and store carbon, and improving people's connection with nature. The Government's Nature for Climate Fund is providing more than £750 million over the course of this Parliament to create new, and protect existing, habitats in England by helping restore 35,000ha of peatland, and supporting a trebling of woodland creation rates, by 2025. The England Peat Action Plan provides a strategic framework to improve management and protection of both our upland and lowland peatlands, to ensure our peatlands are functioning healthily. As set out in the England Trees Action Plan, we are committed to increasing tree planting in this parliament to 30,000 hectares per year across the UK, to put us on track to ensure at least 12% woodland cover in England by the middle of the century. We are also repurposing our system of agricultural payments to reward farmers and land managers for the environmental services they provide – including creating and maintaining habitat, and sustainable farming practices. This will be delivered through three new Environmental Land Management schemes – the Sustainable Farming Incentive, Local Nature Recovery and Landscape Recovery. At sea, we have built an extensive network of 372 Marine Protected Areas covering 38% of UK waters, and are focusing on making sure they are protected properly. Using new powers introduced by the Fisheries Act 2020, the Marine Management Organisation is developing an ambitious three-year programme for assessing sites and implementing byelaws, where necessary, to manage fishing activity in all English offshore MPAs. Furthermore, the Government is introducing a number of pilot Highly Protected Marine Areas for biodiversity recovery, which will have the highest levels of protection in our seas. These actions to protect, increase and improve habitats, and reduce pressures on ecosystems will deliver the Government's ambitious commitments on the environment.

Flood Control

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department has taken steps to improve the accuracy of flood prediction (a) methods and (b) technology in light of recent flooding.

Rebecca Pow: The Environment Agency (EA) uses flood modelling to understand the risk of flooding at a local and a national level. Its flood models use a range of information to help make them as reliable as possible. The EA keeps its data and modelling under constant review and examines it rigorously after every flooding incident to ensure it best reflects post incident recovery data. The EA is also investing in a programme of forecast model improvements which will include exploring using the latest technology and methods such as artificial intelligence, as well as technology to make it easier for users to see the likely areas to be impacted. The EA advises that members of the public and businesses check if their property is at risk of flooding here https://www.gov.uk/check-flooding and sign up for flood warnings here https://www.gov.uk/sign-up-for-flood-warnings.

Infrastructure: York

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she has had recent discussions with authorities in York on the stability of infrastructure in Skeldergate.

Rebecca Pow: Options to reduce the risk of flooding along Skeldergate were evaluated as part of the York Flood Alleviation Scheme. The Environment Agency is engaging with property owners who are eligible for Property Flood Resilience measures. I met the hon. Member on 10 February 2021, and subsequently with the hon. Member, the hon. Member for York Outer (Julian Sturdy) and the Leader of the Council, Cllr Keith Aspden, on Wednesday 17 November 2021 to discuss flood risk in York. The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs is regularly updated on the progress of flood resilience schemes.

Floods: Insurance

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of a Government backed flood reinsurance scheme for businesses that provides specific insurance to businesses within certain categories.

Rebecca Pow: Government conducts recurring research into the affordability and availably of flood insurance. There is no evidence of a systematic problem for businesses at high flood risk not accessing insurance. However, we recognise that access to affordable insurance may be an issue for some businesses and research in 2018 found that 2% of small businesses were not able to find suitable insurance cover for flood risk. There are a number of business insurance solutions offered by the insurance market, such as insurers who offer increased flood excess with reduced premiums, and parametric insurance which allows property owners to set the level of premium in line with an agreed level of risk. The British Insurers Brokers’ Association (BIBA) also have members who can provide cover for those that are ineligible for Flood Re. We are working with the insurance industry and the wider commercial sector to help businesses become more resilient to flooding, through the joint Government and industry Property Flood Resilience (PFR) roundtable and through the development of a PFR roadmap by the end of 2022.

Flood Control

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the (a) availability of and (b) potential merits of introducing technology to enable increased height and stability of temporary flood barriers in the UK.

Rebecca Pow: The Environment Agency (EA) holds over 40km of temporary barriers, with heights from 1m to 1.8m in height. Temporary barriers are only considered for use in exceptional circumstances and larger temporary barriers are not suitable to use everywhere. The EA regularly reviews the technology available to protect residents and businesses from flooding and will continue to assess what further improvements we can make on an ongoing basis.

Land Drainage: York

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what (a) assessment he has made of the adequacy of the water drainage system in York and (b) steps he is taking to ensure that system can deal adequately with future demand.

Rebecca Pow: The Government recognises the importance of having a robust drainage system both now and for future demand. Sewerage companies are responsible for the maintenance and resilience of the drainage and wastewater networks. The first cycle of non-statutory planning, through Drainage and Wastewater Management Plans (DWMPs), is currently ongoing.DWMPs will become statutory through the Environment Act when the first cycle ends and are an important part of ensuring a robust drainage system. This planning process will help sewerage companies to fully assess network capacity and develop collaborative solutions with local authorities and other bodies who are responsible for parts of the drainage system.

Agriculture: Seasonal Workers

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what percentage of seasonal agricultural workers come from Ukraine; and if he will make a statement.

Victoria Prentis: The Home Office managed migration datasets indicate that in 2021, visas issued to Ukrainian nationals accounted for 67% (19,920) of all visas issued under the seasonal worker route, including those issued under the temporary visa schemes for poultry, food sector HGVs, and pork butchers. Defra is engaging with the operators of the seasonal worker visa route to prepare and advance contingency plans in response to the situation in Ukraine. Operators can recruit from any country they choose for the seasonal workers visa route and operators recruited seasonal workers from almost 50 countries in 2021.

Pigs: Slaughterhouses

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many healthy pigs were slaughtered in (a) 2020, (b) 2021 and (c) since January 1 2022 due to (i) problems in supply chains and (ii) availability of veterinary and slaughterhouse staff.

Victoria Prentis: Defra does not collect data on the number of pigs culled on farms. Producers, who are responsible for the welfare of animals on farm, are also not required to submit such data to us. We therefore have no data on the culling of pigs in 2020. However, from our engagement with the pig sector, we understand that around 29,800 pigs were culled on farms between 1 September and 31 December 2021 and around 6,200 pigs have been culled on farm since 1 January 2022. We are very aware of the impact the culling of pigs is having on the individual farmers involved.We continue to monitor the evolving situation and to work closely with the pig industry. On 10 February I chaired a roundtable with pig industry representatives from across the UK to discuss the challenges that the sector has been facing in recent months caused by the pandemic, including the loss of exports to the Chinese market for certain pig processors, disruption to CO2 supplies, and a temporary shortage of labour in the processing sector. We have provided a package of measures to help address these unique circumstances, which includes temporary work visas for up to 800 pork butchers, and Private Storage Aid and Slaughter Incentive Payment schemes to facilitate an increase in the throughput of pigs through abattoirs.

Sugar Beet: Neonicotinoids

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with the sugar industry since his decision to authorise the use of neonicotinoid pesticides for sugar beet crop.

Victoria Prentis: The Government announced on 14 January that it would issue, with strict conditions, an emergency authorisation to use a neonicotinoid seed treatment for sugar beet crops in England. Since then, Defra Ministers have met with representatives of the sugar industry at a Parliamentary reception and at the NFU conference. Discussions included work to end the sector’s reliance on neonicotinoids.

Fires: Air Pollution

Geraint Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has had recent discussions with Cabinet colleagues on the potential merits of regulating outdoor burning for the purpose of lowering PM2.5 emissions.

Jo Churchill: I have not had recent discussions along these lines.

Food

Alex Norris: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of increasing its cooperation with the food industry to improve fibre intake.

Alex Norris: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department is planning to take steps through the forthcoming food strategy white paper to work with the food industry to help improve intake of fibre.

Victoria Prentis: In the United Kingdom, the national food model, the Eatwell Guide, provides a visual representation of Government’s evidence-based recommendations for a healthy balanced diet. The guide depicts a healthy, balanced diet based on fruit and vegetables and higher fibre starchy carbohydrates. Defra is committed to listening to opinions from stakeholders across the entirety of the food system. We actively encourage dialogues with a wide range of stakeholders to identify options to transform the food system and are keen to work closely with industry to deliver lasting change. The forthcoming Government Food Strategy is a once in a generation opportunity to create a food system that feeds our nation today and protects it for tomorrow. It will build on existing work across Government and identify new opportunities to make the food system healthier, more sustainable, more resilient, and more accessible for those across the UK. We want to make it as easy as possible for people to shift towards a greener and more sustainable lifestyle, whilst maintaining people's freedom of choice, including on their diet.

Nature Conservation: Urban Areas

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to create wildlife habitats in urban areas.

Rebecca Pow: This Government is committed to halting the decline of nature by 2030, and so is acting across a range of policies to create more wildlife habitats, including in urban areas. The Government's 25 Year Environment Plan includes a commitment to establish a Nature Recovery Network. This Network will be a bigger, better quality and increasingly connected network of places that are richer in wildlife, support the recovery of our species and are more resilient to climate change and other pressures. It will benefit wildlife by increasing, improving and connecting wildlife-rich habitats across England, including in urban areas. At the core of the Network will be our existing best areas for nature, including protected sites and National Nature Reserves. We will also create or restore 500,000 hectares of additional wildlife-rich habitat beyond these, in both urban and rural areas. To support this, we are putting in place Local Nature Recovery Strategies to ensure we establish habitat in the best place for wildlife. The Government is also taking action to mandate biodiversity net gain in planning and development. Biodiversity net gain will require that development results in a 10% increase gain in biodiversity above the existing baseline. This will further support the creation or enhancement of additional habitat in urban areas, providing an important contribution to the overall Nature Recovery Network. Our Nature for Climate Fund, backed by over £750 million, is also supporting the creation of woodland habitat near and in urban areas. This includes England’s network of 13 Community Forests to create nearly 7,000 hectares of new trees and woodlands by 2025 in and around the towns and cities.

Home Office

British Nationality: Children

Bell Ribeiro-Addy: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has undertaken race and disability equality assessments of the fee for children to register as British citizens in the context of the Supreme Court judgment dated 2 February 2022 in R (on the application of The Project for the Registration of Children as British Citizens) v Secretary of State for the Home Department.

Kevin Foster: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Visas: Applications

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many and what proportion of people who use the priority service route for visa or settlement applications receive a decision within five working days.

Kevin Foster: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Passports: Leaflets

Kirsty Blackman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to leaflet distributed with newly issued passports by HM Passport Office, if she will correct an errant apostrophe in that leaflet on the passage relating to writing your passport number and its date of issue on the front of the leaflet.

Kevin Foster: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Asylum: Housing

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, which areas have been allocated responsibility for finding accommodation for asylum seekers dispersed from Napier Barracks.

Kevin Foster: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Asylum: Housing

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much funding has been provided to each local authority to rehouse asylum seekers in each month since April 2019.

Kevin Foster: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Refugees: Ukraine

Patrick Grady: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has put measures in place to receive potential refugees fleeing conflict in Ukraine.

Kevin Foster: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Asylum

Scott Benton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people since 2019 whose application for asylum was rejected have been uncontactable by her Department but are believed to still be in the UK.

Kevin Foster: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Members: Correspondence

John Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she plans to respond to the enquiry of 17 November 2021 from the hon. Member for Warley regarding Mr Kibuuki.

Kevin Foster: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Care Workers: Visas

Karin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans she has to extend the Health and Care Worker visa scheme for (a) social care workers, (b) care assistants and (c) home care workers beyond 15 February 2023.

Kevin Foster: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Seasonal Workers: Ukraine

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many seasonal agricultural work permits were approved for workers from Ukraine in the last 3 years.

Kevin Foster: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Asylum: Ukraine

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent steps she has taken to establish a safe and legal route for Ukrainians seeking asylum to travel to the UK.

Kevin Foster: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Asylum: Ukraine

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she plans to establish a safe and legal route for Ukrainian asylum seekers to enter the UK.

Kevin Foster: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Refugees: Russia and Ukraine

Claire Hanna: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of establishing a fast track refugee process for people fleeing Ukraine and Russia in the context of the recent invasion.

Kevin Foster: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Asylum: Ukraine

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of waiving visa entrance requirements for Ukrainians fleeing the war in Ukraine.

Kevin Foster: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

British Nationality: Children

Stuart C McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 15 February 2022 to Question 119726, on British Nationality: Children, when her Department began that assessment of children’s best interests in respect of the child registration fee; and when she plans to complete that assessment.

Kevin Foster: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

British Nationality: Children

Stuart C McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 15 February 2022 to Question 119726, on British Nationality: Children, if she will confirm that the findings of fact made by the courts in R (on the application of The Project for the Registration of Children as British Citizens) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2022] UKSC 3 will be acted upon in assessing children’s best interests in respect of the child registration fee.

Kevin Foster: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Sergei Brilyov

Stephen Kinnock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will take steps to strip Russian TV presenter, Sergei Brilyov, of his British citizenship, ban him from the UK and freeze his UK assets.

Kevin Foster: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Asylum: Ukraine

Sarah Olney: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to her announcement that an additional 100,000 Ukrainians will be able to seek sanctuary in the UK, how her Department calculated that figure; and which family members of Ukrainians in the UK qualify as immediate family.

Kevin Foster: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Home Office: Social Media

Florence Eshalomi: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much her Department has spent on producing social media videos and graphics for use on ministerial social media accounts since January 2020.

Kit Malthouse: The department employs an in-house social media team whose core responsibility it is to use digital channels to effectively and efficiently increase public awareness and understanding of the work and policies of the department. It is the role of the team to devise strategies and plans, as well as create and distribute digital content, for all Home Office social medial channels, to meet that objective.Content created by this team regarding Government policies, guidance and announcements is also to be posted from ministerial accounts when necessary - this includes ministerial statements, content from official visits or government announcements.There is not an incremental cost to the creation of these assets. Like all other communications products, they are funded by the Home Office Communications Directorate staffing budget.

Animal Experiments

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the oral contribution of the Minister for Crime and Policing on 7 February 2022, Official Report, column 280WH, if she will publish further information on the remit and role of the integrated policy co-ordination function; and how that function will be utilised in the policy area of the use in animals in science.

Kit Malthouse: The Government is presently setting up an integrated policy and coordination function to provide policy leadership for the use of animals in science. The role and remit of the function will be published once it is fully established.

Refugees: Ukraine

Olivia Blake: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will review the potential impact of the Nationality and Borders Bill on family reunion rights in the context of the ongoing military conflict in Ukraine.

Tom Pursglove: The Government has made a number of announcements in relation to the conflict in Ukraine. We are establishing an expansive Ukrainian family scheme which allows an estimated hundred thousand close family members – including parents, grandparents, adult offspring, siblings – of British nationals or people settled in the UK to come to the UK immediately. This provides a safe and legal route for Ukrainian nationals to reunite with families in the UK.

Derwentside Immigration Removal Centre

Kate Osborne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many in-person legal visits have taken place at Derwentside immigration removal centre since women were first detained there on 28 December 2021; and which contracted legal aid providers have made in-person visits.

Tom Pursglove: Detained individuals are advised of their right to legal representation, and how they can obtain such representation, within 24 hours of their arrival at an Immigration Removal Centre (IRC).The Legal Aid Agency (LAA) operates free legal advice surgeries in IRCs in England. Individuals who are detained are entitled to receive up to 30 minutes of advice regardless of financial eligibility or the merits of their case. There is no restriction on the number of surgeries an individual may attend. If an individual who is detained requires substantive advice on a matter which is in scope of legal aid, full legal advice can be provided if the statutory legal aid means and merits criteria are met.At Derwentside IRC there has been 1 in-person legal visit from 28 December 2021 to 28 February 2022. Legal visits can take place from both legal providers attending under the Legal Aid Detained Duty Advice Scheme and other legal providers visiting their clients who are in detention. In line with Government advice on social distancing, during the pandemic, face to face legal visits were facilitated in exceptional circumstances, and only if other means of contact (Skype, telephone, email) were not feasible or appropriate. In light of changes to Government guidance, face to face legal visits can now be facilitated. Safe systems of work are in place to ensure the safety of detained individuals, onsite staff and visitors during these visits.

Undocumented Migrants: English Channel

Sarah Olney: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 25 February 2022 to Question 122771, what assumptions her Department has made in concluding that 70 per cent of those crossing the channel in small boats are economic migrants.

Sarah Olney: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 25 February 2022 to Question 122771, what role her Department's findings that (a) 74 per cent of people arriving in the UK on small boats in 2020 were aged between 18 – 39 and (b) 87 per cent of all small boats arrivals were male had in the formulation of her assessment that 70 per cent of small boat arrivals were economic migrants.

Tom Pursglove: As set out in the response given to PQ122771 on 25 February 2022, seeking asylum should not involve people asylum shopping country to country, or risking their lives by lining the pockets of criminal gangs to cross the Channel. They should claim asylum in the first safe country they reach. European Union Member States including France have fully functioning asylum systems. Given this, it is entirely reasonable to conclude that individuals arriving in the UK in such a manner may be primarily motivated by economic factors.

National Crime Agency: Staff

Liam Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will set out (a) the number of FTE's and (b) the resources devoted to the Kleptocracy cell in the National Crime Agency.

Damian Hinds: The National Crime Agency welcomes the announcement on the Combatting Kleptocracy Cell to focus on corrupt elites laundering their assets within the UK.They have already surged additional officers to support existing efforts and will move at pace to enhance the unit further to drive forwards what are inevitably complex and lengthy operations.

Police: Pepper Spray and Tasers

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent guidance her Department has issued to police officers on the possession of (a) Pelargonic Acid Vannilylamide (PAVa) spray and (b) conducted energy devices (Taser) when they are (i) off duty and (ii) on call.

Kit Malthouse: The Home Office has not issued guidance to police officers on the possession of PAVa and Conducted Energy Devices.Guidance for police on operational matters, including equipment, is for Chief officers and/or the College of Policing to issue.

Economic Crime: Criminal Investigation

Dame Margaret Hodge: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many prosecutions for criminal financial sanctions breaches have resulted from National Crime Agency investigations.

Damian Hinds: The decision to prosecute is a matter for the CPS.

Fires: Safety Measures

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she will publish her response to the consultation on personal emergency evacuation plans; what the reasons are for the time taken to analyse feedback to date; and if she will make a statement.

Damian Hinds: The Government response to the Personal Emergency Evacuation Plans consultation will be published shortly.

Actionfraud: Staff

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people work for ActionFraud (a) in total and (b) focussing on cyber-fraud.

Damian Hinds: Action Fraud is the UK’s national reporting centre for fraud and cyber crime and works alongside the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau who are responsible for the assessment of the reports.Action Fraud has 95 FTE working within its call centre. All call takers are trained with an in-depth knowledge of cyber crime and its relationship with fraud.

Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities

Supported Housing: Standards

Dan Carden: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, pursuant to the Answer to Question 125443 on Supported Housing: Regulation, what data his Department holds on the extent and prevalence of supported housing landlords providing poor quality accommodation; and if he will make an assessment of the adequacy of support for residents affected by the operation of rogue landlords.

Eddie Hughes: Most supported housing providers are part of the social housing sector. Data shows that in 2021, only 2.3% of registered social housing landlord owned stock was non-decent (https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-dwelling-stock-including-vacants ). My department engages with local authorities, sector bodies and published independent research to understand issues with the quality of accommodation and support. In particular, we look to local authorities, as they are best placed to know their local supported housing markets, to identify problems with poor quality provision. We have learned a lot through the year-long pilots we have run, backed by £5.4 million of investment, in some of the areas of the country facing the most acute challenges. A core part of the pilots' work was to assess both accommodation standards, and also the support provided to tenants to ensure it was sufficient and tailored. The independent evaluation of the pilots will be published as soon as possible.

Leasehold: Service Charges

Daisy Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will bring forward legislative proposals on leasehold reform to introduce rights for freehold home owners to seek redress at a First-Tier Tribunal should they consider estate or management fees to be (a) excessive or (b) not representing value for money.

Eddie Hughes: The Government is committed to promoting fairness and transparency for homeowners and ensuring that consumers are protected from abuse and poor service. Where people pay estate rent charges it is not appropriate that these homeowners have limited rights to challenge these costs.We will therefore give freeholders on private and mixed tenure estates equivalent rights to leaseholders to challenge the reasonableness of estate rentcharges, as well as a right to apply to the First-tier Tribunal to appoint a new manager to manage the provision of services. We will translate these measures into law when parliamentary time allows.

Leasehold: Service Charges

Daisy Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will make it his policy to prescribe a requirement to clearly communicate (a) estate fees and (b) service charges to home buyers in future legislative proposals for leasehold reform.

Eddie Hughes: The Government is committed to promoting fairness and transparency for homeowners and ensuring that consumers are protected from abuse and poor service. We have already committed to setting a fee and timescale for the provision of leasehold information when a home is being sold. This will require freeholders, or managing agents acting on their behalf, to provide relevant information including details of service charges. We will bring forward these proposals as soon as parliamentary time allows.Furthermore, as set out in the Levelling Up White Paper, the UK Government and the industry will work together to ensure the critical material information buyers of leasehold and freehold properties need to know - like tenure type, lease length and any service charges - are available digitally wherever possible from trusted and authenticated sources, and provided only once.Where people pay estate rent charges it is not appropriate that these homeowners have limited rights to challenge these costs. That is why the Government intends to legislate to ensure that the charges that resident freeholders may pay towards the maintenance of communal area are fairer and more transparent.The Government established an independent working group, chaired by Lord Best, to raise standards across the property sector, which also considered how fees such as service charges should be presented to consumers. The working group published its final report to Government (see: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/regulation-of-property-agents-working-group-report) and we are considering the report's recommendations.

Ground Rent

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will make it his policy to abolish or cap ground rents for people currently paying that charge.

Eddie Hughes: We are taking forward a comprehensive programme of reform to end unfair practices in the leasehold market. The Leasehold Reform (Ground Rent) Act will put an end to ground rents for most new residential leasehold properties as part of the most significant changes to property law in a generation. We understand the difficulties some existing leaseholders face with high and escalating ground rents.Unfair practices have no place in the housing market and the Government is committed to ending them. This is why the Government asked the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to investigate potential mis-selling of homes and unfair terms in the leasehold sector. The Government has welcomed the action to tackle potential mis-selling and unfair terms in the leasehold sector and wants to see homeowners who have been affected obtain the justice and redress they deserve.

Leasehold: Property Management Companies

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will make an assessment of trends in the level of management costs paid by leaseholders.

Eddie Hughes: Leaseholders are typically liable to contribute to the overall management costs of a building to allow for the proper and safe management of ongoing maintenance, repairs and services. Management costs will also be incurred if a freeholder employs a managing agent to undertake those responsibilities on their behalf. The Government believes very strongly that these charges should be transparent and communicated effectively. The law is clear that service charges and any increase in costs must be reasonable and, where costs relate to work or services, the work or services must be of a reasonable standard. The Government believes that there should be a clear route to challenge or redress if things go wrong.Leaseholders may make an application to the appropriate tribunal (being the First-tier Tribunal in England and the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal in Wales) for it to make a determination on the reasonableness of their service charges.

Leasehold: Property Management Companies

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will take steps to ensure that freeholders and management companies of leasehold properties have accessible means by which leaseholders can contact them.

Eddie Hughes: Sections 47 and 48 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1987 are clear that any written demand for rent or service charges must include the name and address of the immediate landlord; and that a landlord must provide an address within England and Wales at which notices, including notices in proceedings, may be served. A leaseholder is not liable for the demand for rent or the service charge until this information is provided.The Government established an independent working group, chaired by Lord Best, to raise standards across the property agent sector, which also considered suggestions to improve transparency. The working group published its final report to Government (see: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/regulation-of-property-agents-working-group-report) and we are considering the report's recommendations.

Private Rented Housing: Evictions

Navendu Mishra: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps his Department has taken to help (a) local authorities and (b) housing associations to respond to demand for social housing following the issue of section 21 notices to private tenants.

Stuart Andrew: Local councils are best placed to determine how best to manage the demand for social housing - they are responsible for allocating housing through local schemes. These are governed by a framework of rules set by central government which ensure social housing is prioritised for those in housing need.We are committed to investing in social housing. Our new £11.5 billion Affordable Homes Programme will provide up to 180,000 new homes across the country, should economic conditions allow. This builds upon the success of our £9 billion Shared Ownership and Affordable Homes Programme, running to 2023, which will deliver approximately 250,000 new affordable homes.

Housing: Greater Manchester

Navendu Mishra: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what recent assessment his Department has made of the level of demand for housebuilding in (a) Stockport constituency and (b) Greater Manchester.

Stuart Andrew: It is for local authorities to calculate their local housing need figure based on the standard method we have set out in guidance. In 2018, we introduced a standard method for assessing local housing need to make the process of identifying the number of homes needed in an area simple, quick and transparent. This comprises a baseline of household projections which are adjusted to take account of affordability, capped to make the increase realistic for areas - and, in December 2020, we added a 35% uplift for the 20 most populated urban areas to ensure that the standard method was consistent with the aim to deliver 300,000 homes a year. This included Manchester, but did not include Stockport The standard method is used by councils as a guide when they develop their local plans. Councils decide their own housing requirement once they have considered their ability to meet their own needs in their area. This includes taking local circumstances and constraints, including Green Belt, into account, and working with neighbouring authorities if it would be more appropriate for needs to be met elsewhere. This recognises that not everywhere will be able to meet their housing need in full. Each plan is subject to a public examination in front of an independent Inspector, who plays an important role in examining plans impartially to ensure that they are legally compliant and sound.

Buildings: Insulation

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, for what reason leaseholders who are landlords are not able to receive support for the rectification of unsafe cladding and other fire safety defects.

Stuart Andrew: We are clear that building owners and industry should make buildings safe without passing on costs to leaseholders, and leaseholders living in their own medium and high-rise buildings should not have to pay to remediate historic cladding defects that are no fault of their own. We have further clarified that we have no intention of excluding leaseholders who have moved out and sublet from protections that will be put in place (including those in shared ownership) for buildings over 11 metres in England. We will explore whether this support should extend to other leaseholders, such as buy-to-let landlords. We are also bringing forth statutory protections in the Building Safety Bill to ensure leaseholders are protected.

Older People: Poverty

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps he is taking to ensure that older people who are living in poverty receive an assessment from their local authorities to ensure that they are receiving all the support for which they are eligible.

Stuart Andrew: The Local Government Finance Settlement for 2022/23 makes available an additional £3.7 billion to councils, including funding for adult social care reform. This is an increase in local authority funding for 2022/23 of over 4.5% in real terms, which will ensure councils across the country have the resources they need to deliver key services.The majority of this funding is unringfenced in recognition of local authorities being best placed to understand local priorities, including support for the elderly.Specifically on social care, local authorities are responsible for assessing an individual's eligibility for care and support as set out in the Care Act and, where the individual is eligible for financial support, for meeting those needs. Where individuals are not eligible for financial support, local authorities will support them, should they require assistance, to make their own arrangements for care services.Separately, the Government has revised and expanded the Pension Credit guide on the GOV.UK website to include clear information about the additional financial support available to people on Pension Credit. Over the coming weeks 11 million pensioners in Great Britain will receive information about Pension Credit in a leaflet accompanying their annual up-rating letter including prominent messaging that an award of Pension Credit can also open the door to a wide range of additional benefits - not only extra help with fuel costs, but also help with rent, council tax, certain health related costs and a free over-75 TV licence.

Affordable Housing: Greater London

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what estimate his Department has made of the number of new homes constructed by the Mayor of London from the £3.15 billion grant to London’s Affordable Homes Programme announced following the Autumn Statement in November 2016.

Stuart Andrew: The Government has agreed a major package of funding for London through the Affordable Homes Programme with the Greater London Authority.The Greater London Authority publish statistics every quarter to show how they are delivering new homes through the London Affordable Homes Programme. The latest figures can be found at:https://www.london.gov.uk/what-we-do/housing-and-land/increasing-housing-supply/affordable-housing-statistics.Since 2010, we have delivered over 574,100 new affordable homes, including over 403,400 affordable homes for rent, of which over 154,600 homes for social rent. Over one fifth of overall delivery was in London (over 119,100), with over 81,500 for rent.

Social Rented Housing: Safety

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the recommendation in End Our Cladding Scandal's Dereliction of Duty report, published on 20 February 2022, on strengthening the role of the Regulator of Social Housing and Housing Ombudsman to ensure that (a) housing associations are held to account for their obligations relating to building safety and (b) leaseholders are able to obtain appropriate redress in circumstances where a housing association is found to have failed to uphold those obligations; and if he will make a statement.

Stuart Andrew: The Regulator of Social Housing's consumer regulation function is primarily responsible for regulating landlords in their delivery of services to tenants, and in some cases shared owners. The Regulator of Social Housing does not have a legal remit on protections for leaseholders. Leaseholders in properties owned by registered providers have different arrangements than tenants - they operate under the terms of a lease rather than a tenancy agreement, which are subject to separate legal and contractual requirements.The Housing Ombudsman Service's role is to resolve disputes involving tenants and leaseholders of social landlords (housing associations and local authorities). The Housing Ombudsman's role is set out in the Housing Act 1996 and The Housing Ombudsman Scheme approved by the Secretary of State.  We have strengthened the Housing Ombudsman's powers and increased their resources to help improve performance and delivery of services. This has enabled the Housing Ombudsman to publish important work such as their Spotlight reports into leasehold, cladding, damp and mould in social housing.Through the Building Safety Bill, we will be ensuring that building owners of higher-risk buildings have clear accountabilities for managing building safety as Accountable Persons. This will include housing associations and other social housing providers. Leaseholders and residents will have a clear voice under the new regime and will be empowered to hold their Accountable Person to account. They will have the ability to raise and escalate complaints to the Regulator of Building Safety for breach of building safety obligations. We are also laying a series of amendments to the Building Safety Bill to require that historical safety defects in any building above 11 metres or five storeys owned by a landlord associated with that developer must be fixed by them. Building owners that can afford to pay must not pass any costs relating to remediating those historical safety defects to leaseholders.

Housing

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if his Department will undertake an in-depth study on the reasons for housing challenges in (a) York and (b) other cities.

Stuart Andrew: Throughout its work the Department seeks to better understand the differing housing needs and challenges of local areas both through close engagement with local areas and monitoring relevant data, in line with our Levelling Up White Paper commitments.The White Paper emphasises the Government's commitment to creating a fair and just housing system that works for everyone. This is essential for spreading opportunity and levelling up. This includes supporting more first-time buyers to move onto the housing ladder, delivering more homes that are genuinely affordable, radically improving housing quality and reducing homelessness.

Social Rented Housing: Empty Property

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a limit on the length of time properties owned by (a) social landlords and (b) councils can remain void.

Stuart Andrew: Access to social housing is managed locally, within a national framework. The government has given local councils freedom to manage their own waiting lists, so they can decide who should qualify for social housing in their area and develop solutions which make best use of the social housing stock.The average (median) number of vacant days before a social housing property (local authority and housing association owned) was let in 2019/20 was 19 days.The length of time a property is void can be affected by a range of factors, including whether a property is under repairs or in need of adaptations, how extensive these repairs or adaptations are and whether a property is earmarked for demolition or sales. There are therefore legitimate reasons for a property to remain void.

Social Rented Housing: York

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what estimate he has made of the number of social housing units developed in York in each of the last 5 years.

Stuart Andrew: The number of new affordable housing completions in each local authority is published in live table 1008C. Those figures are broken down by tenure here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-affordable-housing-supply .

Social Rented Housing: Waiting Lists

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing use of empty residential units held as investments for housing people on local authority social housing waiting lists.

Stuart Andrew: Local councils are best placed to determine how best to increase their stock of social housing. We have given councils powers to manage empty homes in their districts and we encourage councils to publish their empty homes policies.We are committed to investing in social housing. Our new £11.5 billion Affordable Homes Programme will provide up to 180,000 new homes across the country, should economic conditions allow. This builds upon the success of our £9 billion Shared Ownership and Affordable Homes Programme, running to 2023, which will deliver approximately 250,000 new affordable homes.

Housing: Pensioners

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what recent assessment he has made of the cost of living pressures on the ability of people of pensionable age being able to continue living in their current accommodation.

Stuart Andrew: The Government is taking action to help people, including Pensioners, with cost of living pressures. The Chancellor's announcement on 3 February of a package of support to help households with rising energy bills, worth £9.1 billion in 2022-23, will also be available to eligible pensioners.Individuals in who are unable to afford their rental payments may be eligible for a range of support through the Universal Credit system. In April 2020, we boosted investment in the Local Housing Allowance by nearly £1 billion.For those who need it most, support is available through Discretionary Housing Payments, the additional £65 million funding for renters in arrears, and the £500 million Household Support Fund, of which £421 million will go to help vulnerable people in England with the cost of essentials over the winter period.On the wider issue of older people's housing, we are committed to ensuring that older people can live in the right kind of homes that suit their needs, in the places they want to live. A new government taskforce, as announced in the Levelling Up White Paper, will look at ways we can provide greater choice, quality and security of housing for older people.

Housing: Older People

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps he is taking to increase the quantity of homes available for elderly residents to support access to secure accommodation in later life.

Stuart Andrew: The National Planning Policy Framework already sets out that local authorities should assess the types of specialist housing needed for older people, and this should be reflected in their local planning policies. We also continue to review the departmental programmes and engage with key stakeholders, ahead of setting out a proposed way forward for the planning reforms.Furthermore, we have recently announced a new taskforce on the issue of older people's housing, which will look at ways we can provide greater choice, quality and security of housing for older people, and support the growth of the sector in this country. This work will be taken forwards in partnership with the Department of Health and Social Care.

Bellwin Scheme

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will introduce the Bellwin scheme as a result of recent flooding across the country.

Kemi Badenoch: We have not yet received any requests from local authorities to activate the Bellwin Scheme as a result of the recent flooding, but we stand ready to support councils and local authorities as and when needed.

UK Shared Prosperity Fund

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, pursuant to the Answer of 25 February to Question 126535 on European Social Fund and UK Shared Prosperity Fund, if he will list the types of organisations his Department plans to consult to inform the launch of the UK Shared Prosperity Fund prospectus in the Spring.

Neil O'Brien: We have engaged widely with stakeholders across a range of sectors and from all four nations of the UK. In summer 2021 we held roundtables with stakeholders from the following sectors: Local Business, Environment and Sustainability, Rural, Skills, Employment, Communities & Place and Voluntary & Community.In England, Scotland and Wales, local government will be given responsibility for developing an investment plan for approval by the UK Government, and for delivery of the Fund thereafter. To inform our plans, we have engaged widely with: local authorities across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland including District Councils, County Councils, Unitary Councils, Mayoral Combined Authorities and the Greater London Authority, since local authorities will deliver the funds and submit investment plans for their area (UKG will have oversight of the Fund in Northern Ireland). We have also engaged strategically through the Local Government Association, Convention of Scottish Local Authorities, Welsh Local Government Association, Northern Ireland Local Government Association and other Government departments.In Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland we have also engaged constructively with the devolved governments.Finally, and drawing on the information set out in the UK Shared Prosperity Pre-Launch Guidance, each lead local authority is encouraged to start identifying a diverse range of local stakeholders, appropriate groups and organisations to represent cross-sector voices.

Public Houses: Closures

Robert Halfon: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether his Department provides support to local community groups that seek to purchase closed pubs in their local areas.

Neil O'Brien: We recognise the central role that pubs play in our towns and villages and welcome more applications. Our Community Ownership Fund helps community groups to buy or take over local community assets at risk of being lost. Across the first bidding round we have funded 5 pubs valued at £990,696 and will support many more in future rounds.

Northern Ireland Office

Terrorism: Northern Ireland

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, how many cases the Police Service of Northern Ireland's Legacy Investigations Branch is considering; and how many victims those cases involve.

Conor Burns: The Northern Ireland Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Terrorism: Northern Ireland

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, how many cases the Police Service of Northern Ireland has completed in relation to offences that took place during the Troubles involving (a) republican paramilitaries, (b) loyalist paramilitaries, (c) members of the armed forces and (d) others; and of those cases how many were submitted to the Public Prosecution Service in Northern Ireland.

Conor Burns: The Northern Ireland Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Terrorism: Northern Ireland

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, how many active cases the Police Service of Northern Ireland is investigating relating to activity during the Troubles involving (a) republican paramilitaries, (b) loyalist paramilitaries, (c) members of the armed forces and (d) others as of 28 February 2022; and of those cases how many (i) are case reviews, (ii) are investigations and (iii) have been submitted to the Public Prosecution Service in Northern Ireland.

Conor Burns: The Northern Ireland Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Terrorism: Northern Ireland

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, how many cases inspected by Operation Kenova (a) have been completed, (b) remain active and (c) have been submitted to the Public Prosecution Service in Northern Ireland.

Conor Burns: The Northern Ireland Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Terrorism: Northern Ireland

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, how many prosecutorial decisions the Public Prosecution Service in Northern Ireland has made on Troubles-related offences involving individuals from (a) republican paramilitaries, (b) loyalist paramilitaries, (c) members of the armed forces and (d) others as of 28 February 2022; and of those resulting in prosecutions how many cases (i) are active, (ii) were discontinued, (iii) resulted in a conviction and (iv) resulted in acquittal.

Conor Burns: The Northern Ireland Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Department for International Trade

UK Export Finance: Russia

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, how much of the £171,099,381.84 maximum liability for UK Export Finance arising between 2014-15 and 2020-21 from the underwriting of credit for buyers located in the Russian Federation is still at stake as of the end of February 2022.

Mike Freer: UK Export Finance’s remaining exposure from the underwriting of credit for buyers located in the Russian Federation between 2014-15 and 2020-21 as at 31 January 2022 (the latest date for which complete figures are available) was £49,970,667.

UK Export Finance: Russia

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, if she will publish the names of institutions headquartered in the Russian Federation that were approved to provide credit underwritten by UK Export Finance for exports to the Russian Federation as of the end of 2020-21.

Mike Freer: UK Export Finance (UKEF) has not approved any financial institutions in the Russian Federation to provide credit underwritten by UKEF.

UK Export Finance: Russia

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, how many new export projects have been supported by UK Export Finance in the Russian Federation since the start of 2021-22; and what the total maximum liability for UK Export Finance is arising from that support.

Mike Freer: During the current financial year to date up to 28 February 2022 (the latest date for which complete figures are currently available), UK Export Finance provided short term trade finance support to three UK companies in support of exports to three buyers in the Russian Federation. The total current exposure for these transactions is £145,000.

Trade Agreements: Australia

Wera Hobhouse: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, with reference to her Department's impact assessment of the new free trade agreement between the UK and Australia, published on 16 December 2021, if she will make a subsequent assessment of the impact of that agreement on (a) air pollution, (b) water quality, (c) forests, (d) biodiversity and (e) waste management as a result of the estimated increased economic activity and sectoral changes set out in that original impact assessment.

Penny Mordaunt: The Government is committed to ongoing monitoring and evaluation of its Free Trade Agreements (FTAs). It is currently developing the tools and approaches to undertake monitoring and evaluation activities. This includes consideration of approaches to assess the environmental impacts of FTAs. The Department for International Trade will publish an ex-post evaluation for the UK-Australia agreement within 5 years of entry into force of the agreement.

Visas: Portugal

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, whether she has had discussions with her Portuguese counterpart on a visa agreement for remote workers.

Penny Mordaunt: My Rt. Hon. Friend the Secretary of State for International Trade has not had any discussions with her Portuguese counterpart on a visa agreement for remote workers.

Overseas Trade: Russia

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what proportion of the total value of UK-Russian trade will be affected by the implementation of sanctions on Russia for the invasion of Ukraine.

Mr Ranil Jayawardena: The Department for International Trade has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport

Tourism: Disability

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 4 February 2022 to Question 113206 on Tourism: Disability, on what date the ministerial meeting with Cross-Government Accessibility Ambassadors went ahead; whether he plans to publish the minutes of that meeting; and when Ministers in his Department plan to meet with them again.

Nigel Huddleston: The Cross-Government Accessibility Ambassadors meeting took place on 8th February. The minutes from the meeting have not been published. The attendees were Heather Smith - National Trust, Allan MacKilliop - BBC, Ross Calladine - VisitEngland, Hector Minto - Microsoft, Belinda Blank - CO, Tim Hollingsworth - Sport England and an official from DCMS.The next meeting has not been scheduled and I plan to meet them regularly.

Youth Services: Finance

Nadia Whittome: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what financial support her Department will provide to local authorities for the delivery of youth services in the next two years.

Nigel Huddleston: Local Authorities have a statutory duty to allocate funding to youth services in line with local need. This is funded from the Local Government settlement, which was over £12 billion this year. DCMS are currently reviewing the statutory duty and its associated guidance to assess the effectiveness after a call for responses from key youth stakeholders.The Government recognises the vital role that youth services and activities play in improving the life chances and wellbeing of young people. It is this government’s commitment that by 2025, every young person will have access to regular clubs and activities, adventures away from home and opportunities to volunteer. This will be supported by a three year £560 million investment in youth services through the National Youth Guarantee.

Voluntary Work: Young People

Nadia Whittome: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what proportion of her Department's annual funding for youth programmes is provided to the National Citizen Service Trust.

Nigel Huddleston: The National Citizen Service will receive £171 million over the next three years to support the newly announced National Youth Guarantee and provide hundreds of thousands young people from all backgrounds with opportunities to become ‘work-ready and world-ready’.This represents approximately 30% of this Department’s £560 million investment into youth programmes over the next three years.

Voluntary Work: Young People

Nadia Whittome: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to ensure equal access to National Citizen Service programmes for disadvantaged young people.

Nigel Huddleston: I refer to an answer given to a recent parliamentary question 127585.The National Citizen Service (NCS) is a universal programme that is available to all 15-17 year olds, and maintains a policy that no young person is prevented from taking part. NCS is able to engage a diverse group of young people, over-indexing in participation rates compared to the national population for certain priority groups. In 2019, 23% of participants were on free school meals, 16.3% were living in Opportunity Areas, 29% were from BAME communities, and 6.2% had special educational needs or disabilities. NCS ensures that disadvantaged young people can access the programme through various measures: Bursary schemes, which cover 80% of the participant contribution, reducing it to £10 or, in some cases, entirely. In Summer 2021, over 10,000 young people accessed a bursary.The NCS Inclusion Fund, which enables NCS’s network of providers to remove barriers to taking part in the programme, supporting young people with transport, food, and kit. In 2021, almost 300 young people benefited from the fund.A dedicated community engagement team focused on increasing accessibility by considering differing levels of deprivation and connecting with local youth organisations and Local Authorities.NCS remains committed to removing these access barriers and continues to develop approaches to overcoming them.

Digital Markets Unit

Sir Robert Buckland: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether she plans to bring forward legislative proposals in 2022 to provide the Digital Markets Unit with full statutory powers.

Sir Robert Buckland: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department plans to bring forward legislative proposals in the next parliamentary session to put the new Digital Markets Unit in the Competition and Markets Authority on a statutory basis.

Chris Philp: The Government consulted on our proposed approach to a new pro-competition regime, overseen by the Digital Markets Unit, last year. The consultation closed in October, and we are carefully considering the responses. We will set out the final design of the regime in our response shortly, and will introduce legislation as soon as parliamentary time allows.

Online Safety Bill (Draft)

Ian Paisley: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions she has had with independent news publishers regarding the news publisher definition in the Online Safety Bill; and if she will make a statement.

Chris Philp: Ministers and officials have consulted extensively with a wide range of stakeholders during the drafting of the Bill.Online Safety legislation has been designed to safeguard access to journalistic content. News publishers’ content will be exempted from platforms’ new online safety duties. The criteria against which an organisation qualifies as a publisher is set in the draft Online Safety Bill. If an organisation meets these criteria, then its content will be exempt.The Bill will also impose a duty on the biggest and riskiest companies, Category 1 companies, to safeguard all journalistic content shared on their platform. Through this duty, these platforms will need to have systems in place to ensure they take into account the importance of the free expression of journalistic content when operating their services.

Loneliness: Older People

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to ensure that older people in poverty are not also experiencing loneliness in their communities.

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what support she is providing to local authorities to help them tackle loneliness and isolation amongst people who are elderly and experiencing financial poverty.

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if he will allocate funding to support lunch clubs and day centres to allow older people, including those living in poverty, to be able to socialise.

Nigel Huddleston: The Local Government Finance Settlement 2022/23 gives councils access to the resources that they need. It makes available £54.1 billion in 2022/23 for local government in England, an increase of up to £3.7 billion on 2021/22. The most relatively deprived areas of England (the upper decile of the Index of Multiple Deprivation) will receive 14% more per dwelling in available resource through this year’s settlement than the least deprived areas. The majority of this funding is unringfenced in recognition of local authorities being best placed to understand local priorities, such as tackling loneliness.The Government also remains committed to working across government departments and across society to tackle loneliness, including amongst older people and those experiencing financial poverty.We are supporting organisations at both a national and local level to take action on loneliness through our Tackling Loneliness Hub. The Hub is a digital space for Network members to connect, share, and learn from each other. The Hub has supported Network members through a series of blog posts, events, and seminars to provide spaces for discussion and collaboration, including a space specifically for local authorities to share and learn from best practice examples to tackle loneliness.Since 2018, the government and its partners have invested almost £50 million in tackling loneliness, which has included supporting projects helping older people and those experiencing financial poverty to connect.We are also continuing to work across government departments to tackle loneliness. This includes working with NHS England and NHS Improvement as they continue to expand provision of social prescribing, which can help to connect people who are lonely to support in their community.The Government plays a role in tackling loneliness across society by reducing the stigma associated with loneliness, building the evidence base, and supporting other organisations to play their part. We publish a report on our work on loneliness every year. The latest was published in February 2022. A copy of this report will be placed in the Libraries of the House and is available online here.

Alcoholic Drinks: Marketing

Peter Dowd: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made of the (a) level of children’s exposure to alcohol marketing and (b) impact of that exposure on children.

Julia Lopez: The Government does not currently have plans for a comprehensive assessment of the level of children’s exposure to alcohol advertising or its impact. However, the government recognises that there is some evidence that exposure to alcohol marketing can increase the risk that children will start to drink alcohol or, if they already drink, that it can increase the risk that they will consume greater quantities of alcohol. We will continue to assess any emerging evidence in a proportionate, measured way.Additionally, there are measures in place to protect children and young people from alcohol advertisements. Material in the Committee of Advertising Practice and Broadcast Committee of Advertising Practice Codes (CAP and BCAP codes) relating to the advertising and marketing of alcohol products is exceptionally robust, to ensure that alcohol advertising is responsible and that children and young people are suitably protected. If new evidence emerges that highlights major problems with the existing Codes, then the Advertising Standards Authority should revisit the Codes and take appropriate action.

Arts: Industry

Lucy Powell: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what progress she has made on developing creative clusters, as announced in the creative industries sector deal.

Julia Lopez: The Creative Industries Clusters Programme is currently delivered by the Arts and Humanities Research Council as part of UKRI’s Audience of the Future Challenge and has made some remarkable progress over the last four years of its operation.As of September 2021, the programme has identified that over 3,475 jobs had been created and safeguarded, over £176m of private co-investment has been leveraged from the initial public funding provided and 906 new business-led R&D projects have been supported through the programme.We are working closely with colleagues in UKRI and AHRC to build on the success of this programme as part of the Creative Industries Sector Vision which was announced earlier this year.

Telecommunications: Digital Technology

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what recent assessment she has made of the effect of switching the  telephone network from copper wires to digital phone lines on resilience to power cuts.

Julia Lopez: Ofcom, the independent telecoms regulator, has issued guidance on how telecoms companies can fulfil their regulatory obligation to ensure that their Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) customers have access to the emergency services during a power outage. This guidance was prepared following consultation with Ofgem and the industry, looking at data on average power outages among other factors.This guidance states that providers should have at least one solution available that enables access to emergency organisations for a minimum of one hour in the event of a power outage in the premises, and that the solution should be suitable for customers’ needs and should be offered free of charge to those who are at risk as they are dependent on their landline. This might include relying on the mobile network, which has a high degree of power resilience, or using a battery back-up unit to provide power. Ofcom’s full guidance is available on its website here.Whilst the upgrade is an industry led initiative, the government and Ofcom are working together to ensure consumers and sectors are protected and prepared for the upgrade process.

Civil Society: Regional Planning and Development

Jeff Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how the Government will engage civil society organisations as part of the implementation of the Levelling Up White Paper.

Nigel Huddleston: The Government recognises the vital role that civil society plays in levelling up. Charities, social enterprises and volunteers are already working up and down the country, delivering real impact in some of the most disadvantaged parts of the UK.The Levelling Up White Paper sets the government’s plans to level up communities, including a new Strategy for Community Spaces and Relationships jointly led by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) and the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities’ (DLUHC). As part of this work, we are committed to listening to civil society organisations and engaging with the most disconnected communities. Officials in DCMS and DLUHC are increasing their engagement with civil society and community stakeholders to understand the best way to achieve this.

Women and Equalities

Children: Day Care

Sir Mark Hendrick: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, whether her Department has made an assessment of the impact of the availability of childcare on the retention of mothers in the workforce.

Kemi Badenoch: We recognise that access to, and the availability of, affordable childcare is a key factor in enabling women to enter, remain, and progress in the workplace. That is why this Government continues to support families with their childcare costs.All three- and four-year-olds in England are entitled to 15 hours of free childcare each week, providing children with high-quality early education, and helping parents to return to work. We have also spent over £3.5bn in each of the past three years on early education entitlements; and, at the Spending Review in October 2021, we announced additional funding for early years entitlements worth £160m in 2022-23, £180m in 2023-24 and £170m in 2024-25.The provision of affordable, high-quality childcare is just one way in which we are changing the culture of the workplace to ensure that parents can balance work and care. In addition, we have extended the right to request flexible working to all employees with 26 weeks’ continuous service with their employer.Furthermore, the Shared Parental Leave and Pay scheme gives working families more choice and flexibility about who cares for their child in the first year, and when. We have recently launched an online tool to make it easier for parents to check if they are eligible for shared parental leave and pay.

Lone Parents: Equality

Yasmin Qureshi: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of bringing forward legislative proposals to make single parents the tenth protected characteristic to the Equality Act 2010.

Kemi Badenoch: We are clear that the Equality Act 2010, which provides protection against direct and indirect discrimination across a range of fields, including employment, service provision and housing, already offers some protection for single parents.Given that significantly more women than men, and disproportionately more members of particular ethnic groups, have single parent responsibilities, employers in particular must ensure that their rules and practices which may affect single parents do not indirectly discriminate on grounds of sex or race. We continue to keep the effectiveness of the Act under review.